8. Tune: A Cluster of Blossoms (Zhang Xian)
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
伤高怀远几时穷？无物似情浓。离愁正引千丝乱，更东陌、飞絮濛濛。嘶骑渐遥，征尘不断，何处认郎踪？
English translation
When will the ache of looking from a height toward a distant beloved end? Nothing is as intense as longing. Parting sorrow tangles thought into countless threads, while willow fluff drifts across the eastern road. A horse’s whinny recedes; travel dust continues to rise. Where can the speaker still recognize the beloved’s path?
Original Chinese text
双鸳池沼水溶溶，南北小桡通。梯横画阁黄昏后，又还是、斜月帘栊。沉恨细思，不如桃杏，犹解嫁东风。
English translation
Paired mandarin ducks move across the softly flowing pond, and small boats connect the two banks. After dusk, a ladder rests beside the painted pavilion; once again, a slanting moon shines through the curtained window. On reflection, this heavy resentment seems worse than the fate of peach and apricot blossoms, which at least know how to entrust themselves to the spring wind.
词句注释 · Notes
上片 · First stanza
上片以“高”“远”建立眺望姿态，再把抽象离愁写成“千丝”与飞絮。马声、征尘逐渐远去，最后的问题落在无法追寻的行踪上，视线也随之落空。
The stanza establishes the act of looking outward, then gives abstract separation tangible forms in tangled threads and drifting willow fluff. The horse and road dust recede until the speaker can no longer trace the beloved’s route.
下片 · Second stanza
下片先以鸳鸯、通舟反衬独自怀人的处境，再回到黄昏、斜月的幽闭空间。桃杏“嫁东风”借用落花随风的想象，写词人羡慕花能顺势而去，人却困在沉恨中。
Paired ducks and boats crossing between banks sharpen the contrast with solitary longing. The final image imagines blossoms “marrying” the spring wind as they fall; the speaker envies their ability to go with the current while remaining trapped in grief.