春江花月夜 English Translation: A Spring Evening, Accompanied by the River, the Flowers, the Moon (Miranda Jiang)

Original Text:

春江潮水連海平,海上明月共潮生。
灩灩隨波千萬裏,何處春江無月明!
江流宛轉繞芳甸,月照花林皆似霰;
空裏流霜不覺飛,汀上白沙看不見。
江天一色無纖塵,皎皎空中孤月輪。
江畔何人初見月?江月何年初照人?
人生代代無窮已,江月年年望相似。
不知江月待何人,但見長江送流水。
白雲一片去悠悠,青楓浦上不勝愁。
誰家今夜扁舟子?何處相思明月樓?
可憐樓上月徘徊,應照離人妝鏡臺。
玉戶簾中卷不去,搗衣砧上拂還來。
此時相望不相聞,願逐月華流照君。
鴻雁長飛光不度,魚龍潛躍水成文。
昨夜閒潭夢落花,可憐春半不還家。
江水流春去欲盡,江潭落月復西斜。
斜月沉沉藏海霧,碣石瀟湘無限路。
不知乘月幾人歸,落月搖情滿江樹。

Translation:

The spring river rises and falls, blending in with the ocean

A bright moon peaks out, surging with the waves

Waves shimmer under the moonlight, stretching into the distance

The moon and the spring river accompany each other

The river wraps around the vegetation filled plains, flowing

Flowering bushes refract the gentle moonlight, covering every surface

The real fog is hidden by the fog of light, blending into one

The white, fine sand on the beach melts into the moonlight, seamless

The sky and the water become one shade, not a grain of disturbance

It is lonely, yet the moon hangs in the sky, brightly shining

Who was the first to see the moon by the river?

When did the moon above the river first shine upon us?

Generations of people come and go, never-ending. Yet

The moon shines brightly each year, like it always has

We do not know who the moon is waiting for

We can see the flowing river, sending water far away

Like parting clouds, young travellers disappear over the horizon

They leave behind only the sorrow of women waiting for their return

Which traveller is leaving by boat today, floating into the distance?

In which room is she, the one who is thinking about him?

I pity the shifting and ever-present moon, like the sorrow of those waiting

Shine upon their desks, the moon should, take away their sorrow

The sorrow, it refuses to leave their curtains

The sorrow, it refuses to leave their clothing boards

We are both watching the moon, but I cannot hear your voice

I wish to follow the moon so I can shine on you as well

The wild geese fly non-stop, but they will never leave the moonlight

The fish and the dragons jump out of the water every now and then, leaving ripples

Last night, flower petals kissed the surface of pond water in my dreams

How unfortunate that spring is already half gone, yet I cannot return home

The river flows on, with it goes the remainder of spring

Above the river, the moon is descending westward again

The tilted moon slowly descends, hiding behind the mist

There is a long distance to go, seemingly endless

We don’t know how many people can return before the moonlight runs out

Only the moon rocks with longing, lighting the forests by the river

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