12. Tune: Sand of Silk-Washing Stream II (Yan Shu)
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
一向年光有限身，等闲离别易消魂，酒筵歌席莫辞频。
English translation
Time has always been limited, and so is the span of a human life. Even an ordinary parting can quickly darken the heart. When wine and song bring people together, do not decline too often; make room for these meetings while they last.
Original Chinese text
满目山河空念远，落花风雨更伤春，不如怜取眼前人。
English translation
Mountains and rivers fill the view, yet longing for someone far away remains fruitless. Wind and rain scatter blossoms, deepening the grief of spring’s passing. Better, then, to cherish the person who is here before you.
词句注释 · Notes
上片 · First stanza
上片先把“年光”与“身”并提，直陈时间和人生都有限；离别因而不再是小事。末句劝人不要频频辞却宴饮，语气不是纵酒，而是珍惜相聚的机会。
The stanza places limited time beside the finite human lifespan, making parting consequential. Its advice not to refuse gatherings is less an invitation to excess than a plea to value the chances people have to meet.
下片 · Second stanza
下片先写望远而不得，再以风雨落花加深惜春之情，最后将情绪转向“眼前人”。这不是否定远方的思念，而是提醒人在无常与离别中看见当下可相守的关系。
The stanza begins with a distant view that cannot bring the absent person near, then lets wind and falling blossoms intensify the sense of loss. The turn toward the person at hand does not erase longing; it asks the reader to recognize a present relationship amid change and separation.