Calming the Waves (Liu Yong)
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
自春来、惨绿愁红，芳心是事可可。日上花梢，莺穿柳带，犹压香衾卧。暖酥消、腻云亸、终日厌厌倦梳裹。无那。恨薄情一去，音书无个。
English translation
Since spring began, green leaves bring gloom and red blossoms bring sorrow; nothing can lift her heart. The sun reaches the flowering branches, orioles thread the willow ribbons, yet she remains beneath the scented quilt. Her once-soft glow has faded, her dark hair falls loose, and all day she is too weary to dress. There is no remedy: the faithless lover has gone, and not a word has come.
Original Chinese text
早知恁么，悔当初、不把雕鞍锁。向鸡窗，只与蛮笺象管，拘束教吟课。镇相随、莫抛躲，针线闲拈伴伊坐。和我，免使年少光阴虚过。
English translation
Had I known it would end this way, I would have locked away his carved saddle. I would have kept him by the study window, giving him paper and brush and making him practise his verses. He would stay beside me instead of slipping away; I would sit sewing, keeping him company. Then we might have spent our youth together rather than letting it pass in vain.
词句注释 · Notes
上片 · First stanza
上片从春景反衬人物的失意：花柳、莺啼本可悦目，她却卧床倦妆。音信断绝是愁的根由，“暖酥消、腻云亸”以容貌和发鬓写出相思消磨。
The stanza uses spring scenery to contrast with the woman’s dejection: blossoms, willows, and orioles might delight the eye, but she stays in bed, too weary to dress. The absent letter reveals the cause, while her fading glow and loosened hair show how longing has worn her down.
下片 · Second stanza
下片以假想的“锁鞍”“教吟课”写留人的愿望，语气带着懊悔，也有对恋人自由来去的埋怨。针线相伴的日常想象，使愿望落在平凡生活而非宏大誓言上。
The stanza imagines locking away the lover’s saddle and keeping him at his books, expressing regret and a complaint about his freedom to leave. The image of sewing beside him grounds the wish in ordinary shared life rather than grand vows.