Chánggān Xíng

Ballad of Changgan Li Po
妾髮初覆額，
Qiè fà chū fù é,
[I] [hair] [at first] [cover] [forehead]
My hair, when I was young, covered my forehead;
折花門前劇。
zhé huā ménqián jù.
[break] [flower] [door] [front] [play] one picked flowers, playing in front of the door.
郎騎竹馬來，
Láng qí zhúmǎ lái,
[you] [ride] [bamboo] [horse] [come]
You came riding a bamboo horse;
遶床弄青梅。
rào chuáng nòng qīngméi.
[encircle] [bench] [play with] [blue] [plum] encircling benches, playing with blue plums.
同居長干里，
Tóngjū Chánggān lǐ,
[together] [live] [Chang] [Gan] [in]
We lived together in Changgan,
兩小無嫌猜。
liǎng xiǎo wú xián cāi.
[two] [small] [not have] [dislike] [suspicion] two youngsters without dislike or suspicion.
十四為君婦，
Shísì wèi jūn fù,
[ten] [four] [be] [sir] [wife]
At fourteen I became your wife,
羞顏未嘗開。
xiū yán wèicháng kāi.
[shy] [face] [not yet] [try] [open] my shy face never trying a smile.
低頭向暗壁，
Dītóu xiàng àn bì,
[lower] [head] [to] [dark] [wall]
I lowered my head to the gloomy wall;
千喚不一回。
qiān huàn bù yī huí.
[thousand] [call] [not] [one] [return] of your thousand calls, I did not respond to one.
十五始展眉，
Shíwǔ shǐ zhǎnméi,
[ten] [five] [begin] [exhibit] [eyebrow]
At fifteen my brows began to ease;
(→ “I began to beam with smiles.”)
願同塵與灰。
yuàn tóng chén yǔ huī.
[willing] [same] [dust] [together] [ashes] willing for our dust and ashes to be together.
常存抱柱信，
Cháng cún bào zhù xìn,
[forever] [exist] [embrace] [pillar] [trust]
Forever keeping the holding-the-pillar trust;
(This is a reference to an old story about a man who arranged to meet his lover at a pillar, and clung to the pillar even as flood waters came and drowned him.)
豈上望夫臺。
qǐ shàng wàng fu tái.
[how] [on] [look out] [husband] [platform] why do I climb the platform to look out for you?
十六君遠行，
Shíliù jūn yuǎn xíng,
[ten] [six] [sir] [far] [travel]
At sixteen, you travelled far away,
瞿塘灩澦堆。
Qútáng Yànyù duī.
[Qu] [Tang] [swirling] [Yu] [pile] through Qutang Gorge and the swirling rapids rocks of Yu.
五月不可觸，
Wǔ yuè bùkě chù,
[five] [month] [not] [can] [contact]
For five months we were not in contact;
猿聲天上哀。
yuán shēng tiānshàng āi.
[ape] [sound] [sky] [on] [grief] the sound of apes in the sky is mournful.
門前遲行跡，
Ménqián chí xíngjì,
[door] [front] [slow] [travel] [footprint]
In front of the door are the hesitant footprints of your departure -
一一生綠苔。
yīyī shēng lǜ tái.
[one] [one] [grow] [green] [moss] one by one they grow green moss.
苔深不能掃，
Tái shēn bùnéng sǎo,
[moss] [deep] [not] [can] [sweep]
The moss is so thick it cannot be swept away;
落葉秋風早。
luòyè qiūfēng zǎo.
[fall] [leaf] [autumn] [wind] [early] the leaves fall as the autumn winds come early.
八月蝴蝶黃，
Bā yuè húdié huáng,
[eight] [month] [butterfly][] [yellow]
In august the butterflies turn yellow;
雙飛西園草。
shuāngfēi xī yuán cǎo.
[pair] [fly] [west] [garden] [grasses] in pairs they fly to the West garden’s grasses.
感此傷妾心，
Gǎn cǐ shāng qiè xīn,
[feel] [this] [wound] [I] [hurt]
Feeling this, it injures my heart;
坐愁紅顏老。
zuò chóu hóngyán lǎo.
[sit] [worry] [red] [face] [old] one sits and worries, one’s beautiful face ageing.
(literally “one’s red cheeks ageing”.)
早晚下三巴，
Zǎowǎn xià Sānbā,
[early] [late] [down] [San] [Ba]
Sooner or later you will descend through Sanba -
預將書報家。
yù jiāng shū bào jiā.
[beforehand] [will] [letter] [report] [home] write a letter to report home beforehand.
相迎不道遠，
Xiāng yíng bù dào yuǎn,
[each other] [welcome] [not] [say] [far]
I will come to receive you, not speaking of the distance -
直至長風沙。
zhízhì Chángfēngshā.
[up to] [arrive] [long] [wind] [sand] all the way to Changfengsha.