No. 38 · Seven-character regulated verse
锦瑟
The Brocade Zither
by Li Shangyin 李商隐 · 813 – 858
- Memory
- Music
- Loss
锦瑟无端五十弦The brocade zither, for no reason, has fifty strings;
一弦一柱思华年each string, each bridge, remembers a bright year.
庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶Zhuangzi's dawn dream lost him in a butterfly;
望帝春心托杜鹃the Spring Emperor's longing lodged itself in the cuckoo.
沧海月明珠有泪In the blue sea, under the moon, the pearl weeps;
蓝田日暖玉生烟at Lantian in the sun, the jade gives off smoke.
此情可待成追忆This feeling might have waited to become a memory —
只是当时已惘然only, even then, I was already lost.
Calligraphy print
The Brocade Zither, on paper
Vertical brush calligraphy on aged paper with the English title and a vermilion seal. Pick a size, pay once with PayPal, download instantly — the file is yours forever, watermark-free.
