ChineseStudy

264. Palace Song | Gu Kuang

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English translation

From a jade tower halfway up the sky rises piping and song; the wind carries the laughter and talk of palace women to blend with the music.

Halfway up the sky means the tower stands so high it seems suspended in midair. Piping and song stands for music and singing in general; to blend means to answer and harmonize. The opening couplet conveys the bustle of a palace feast, its sound drifting down from on high.

Moonlight shifts and the palace shadows open; I hear the night water clock. Rolling up the crystal blind, I seem to draw near the autumn river of stars.

The shifting shadows show the moon moving and the night deepening. The night water clock is the clepsydra that measured the hours; the autumn river is the Milky Way. Once the revelry fades, only the dripping and the stars remain, revealing the chill of one who is alone.

赏析 · Commentary

声音很近，人却很远 · Sounds Near, Company Far

前两句的笙歌、笑语都听得见，说明她离宴乐并不远；后两句却只剩漏声和星河，说明并没有人来。这首诗的怨不在吵闹，而在距离：别人欢聚的声音随风送到，她自己所在的地方却越来越静。

In the first couplet the music and laughter are plainly audible, so the woman is not far from the revelry; in the second only the water clock and the river of stars remain, meaning no one has come. The complaint lies not in noise but in distance: the sound of others' pleasure is carried to her on the wind, while her own corner grows quieter and quieter.

卷帘看见的孤独 · Loneliness Seen Through a Raised Blind

末句由室内转向天空。卷起帘子，视线不再被遮挡，银河显得更近；可银河再近，也照不到她想见的人。前两句的热闹与这里的清冷并非两件事，而是同一个人耳中的两种声音。

The closing line turns from the room to the sky. With the blind raised, nothing blocks the view and the Milky Way seems closer; yet however near it comes, it cannot show her the person she longs to see. The bustle of the opening and the chill here are not two separate matters but two sounds reaching the same listening ear.

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