踏莎行

细草愁烟，

幽花怯露，

凭栏总是消魂处。

日高深夜静无人，

时时海燕双飞去。

带缓罗衣，

香残蕙炷，

天长不禁迢迢路。

垂杨只解惹东风，

何曾系得行人住?

TUNE: TREADING ON GRASS

 

The mist-veiled grass looks sad in hue;

Sweet flowers shiver with cold dew.

When she leans on the rails, her heart often bewails.

The courtyard is quiet though advanced is the day;

Now and again a pair of swallows fly away.

Her girdle is too loose her silken dress to tie;

The incense burned up inch by inch will die.

The long long road would vie in length with the wide sky.

The willow branch could bar the vernal breeze from blowing.

Could it ever detain her beloved one from going?