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蝶恋花
dié liàn huā
A butterfly loves flowers (note 1)
纳兰性德
nà lán xìng Dé
辛苦最怜天上月
xīn kǔ zuì lián tiān shàng yuè
The most exhausting and pitiable is the moon in the sky.
一夕如环
yī xī rú huán
One night it was as round as a ring.
夕夕都成玦
xī xī dōu chéng jué
However, all the other nights, it became half-circle jade ring.
若似月轮终皎洁
ruò shì yuè lún zhōng jiǎ jié
If it could be like a wheel of moon with eternal brightness and purity.
不辞冰雪为卿热
bù cí bīng xuě wèi qīng rè
Not afraid of ice and snow, I just want to warm things up for you. (note 2)
无奈尘缘容易绝
wú nài chén yuán róng yì jué
Hopelessly, mundane predestined affinity easily becomes extinct.
燕子依然
yàn zi yī rán
The swallows are the same as old days
软踏帘钩说
ruǎn tà lián gōu yuè
Softly tread on the drape hook with joy. (note 3)
唱罢秋坟愁未歇
chàng bà qiū fén chóu wèi xiē
Ceased chirping on the autumn tomb with undying sorrow.
春丛认取双栖蝶
chūn cóng rèn qǔ shuāng qī dié
In the spring bushes, I spot a pair of resting butterflies.
Note 1
蝶恋花 (dié liàn huā, a butterfly loves flowers) is a title of 词 ci. Ci poetry can be seen as written songs with some underlying melodies. Most of the Ci poems do not have a distinct title but are named after an original melody. Ci was very popular in the late 唐 Tang dynasty and 宋 Song dynasty.
Poets use a certain melody to write a new poem that could be sung to the original famous melody or tune pattern (cipai 詞牌). For this reason we often see the same title for a ci poem, like this poem we are going to learn today is called Die lian hua 蝶戀花, and there are hundreds of Ci by the same title but all with different content or topic. According to the research, it says, there are more than 800 tune patterns we have known.
Note 2
卿 qīng is a term of endearment between spouses or lovers.
Note 3
说 yuè is the same as 悦 yuè which means joy, happiness. The poem rhymes with uè sound.
Don’t pronounce it as 说 shuō which means talk, for it not only does not follow the rhyming rule but also doesn’t make sense literally in the context.
A talented but short-lived brilliant poet 纳兰性德 Nà lán xìng Dé background information
Nalan Xingde ( 纳兰性德 / 納蘭性德 / courtesy name Rongruo 容若, 1655–1685) was a talented Chinese poet of the 清 Qing Dynasty; he was famous for his 词 ci poetry.
Nalan Xingde came from a powerful 滿洲 Manchu family who was also related to royalty. He was born a bright child with a strong talent on poetry composing and essays writing. However, like all Manchu boys, he was also trained on riding and archery. The poet successfully passed the national civil service examination in 1676 and obtained 进士 Jin Shi title. 康熙 Kangxi Emperor gave Xingde a military position as a junior grade officer in the Imperial Bodyguard system.
Due to their similar ages, Xingde became a close associate of the emperor Kangxi, and he often accompanied the emperor in many royal tours.
When he was 19, he married an upper class woman with family name 卢 Lu. Sadly, three years after the marriage, his beloved wife died in childbirth.
Nalan Xingde died at the age of 31, due to an unspecified illness.
Poem analysis:
辛苦最怜天上月
xīn kǔ zuì lián tiān shàng yuè
The most exhausting and pitiable is the moon in the sky.
The moon is used as a metaphor to refer to the happiness of union. The full moon is signifying the wholeness and perfection. However, will the moon be as round as a circle all the time? No, most of times it is not. That is why the poet says the moon in the sky is the most exhausting and pitiable object which got tormented all the time for the imperfection and the incomplete. Really? Will the moon get tormented? Not really, for the moon is a cold celestial object, and it has no feeling at all. Who was really got miserable for the incompleteness of the moon? It was the person who was looking at the moon, and in this case, it was the poet himself.
一夕如环
yī xī rú huán
One night it was as round as a ring.
We know that moon has its waxing and waning every month. How many full moons we have per month? Usually, one, but it is possible to have two, for there are 13 lunar months and 12 calendar months in a year.
Therefore, mostly, in a month we have one night of full moon (one night of perfect happiness, don’t forget about the usage of metaphor here), as round as a jade bracelet or jade ring.
夕夕都成玦
xī xī dōu chéng jué
However, all the other nights, it became half-circle jade ring.
Then after that full, round moon, the moon will be shrinking more and more and becomes lesser and lesser perfect or sadder and sadder.
若似月轮终皎洁
ruò shì yuè lún zhōng jiǎ jié
If it could be like a wheel of moon with eternal brightness and purity.
People always cast wishes in sorrowful moments. So, the poet uttered if, if the moon could be like a wheel and stay forever bright and clear, then it will be the most amazing thing in the world. However, will this kind of wish come true? Not likely, unless it is in the fairy tales or Disney movies.
不辞冰雪为卿热
bù cí bīng xuě wèi qīng rè
Not afraid of ice and snow, just wanted to warm up for you.
This line the poet is talking about he is willing to do whatever to warm up the one he loves even he is going to suffer the most difficult situation — ice and snow or hails — what a great love it is. I think here warm things up means to relieve whatever pains or troubles his lover might be facing or suffering. From this sentence, we know that he loves this particular person dearly and unselfishly — a true love.
无奈尘缘容易绝
wú nài chén yuán róng yì jué
Hopelessly, mundane predestined affinity easily becomes extinct.
However, will every romance have happy ending? No, not all of them. Don’t forget it is a mourning poem. Nalan Xingde wrote this poem to mourn his beloved wife’s death due to childbirth.
No matter how deep his love for his wife was. When the person died, the mundane affinity got cut in one way. It was sad, hopelessly but there was nothing he could do to prevent the family loss or the double tragedies — a wife and a new born child. In this world, there are a lot of tragedies – love + health + career …. Sad, right? Yes, very …
燕子依然
yàn zi yī rán
The swallows are the same as old days
Then the poet raised his eyes and he saw the familiar swallows did the same activities —
软踏帘钩说
ruǎn tà lián gōu yuè
Softly treads on the drape hook with joy.
唱罢秋坟愁未歇
chàng bà qiū fén chóu wèi xiē
Ceased chirping on the autumn tomb with undying sorrow.
The birds were chirping everywhere, even on the tomb, his wife’s tomb. The birds got tired after some chirping and singing, however, what was never dying and never ending is swelling of sorrowfulness and bleakness in the poet’s heart.
春丛认取双栖蝶
chūn cóng rèn qǔ shuāng qī dié
In the spring bushes, I spot a pair of resting butterflies.
To make the situation more miserable is the spotting of a pair of resting butterflies in the spring bushes. The butterflies have their partners, however, the poet was alone, all alone by himself in the empty world ..
Poem translated and analyzed by Shu
An English mourning poem
Annabel Lee — Edgar Allan Poe
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
纳兰性德 MV- 一程山水一程歌
Annabel Lee
Josh Groban – To Where You Are