小重山 岳飛

小重山      岳飛 (1103-1141)

昨夜寒蛩不住鳴。
驚回千里夢，已三更。
起來獨自繞階行。
人悄悄，簾外月朧明。
白首為功名。
舊山松竹老，阻歸程。
欲將心事付瑤琴。
知音少，弦斷有誰聽？

Xiao Chong Shan            Yue Fei (1103-1141)

Last night autumn crickets chirred incessantly till break of day,
Startling me from my dream in which I was a thousand miles away,
The night was only midway.
Getting out of bed, alone around the courtyard I paced,
In quiet solitude, outside the portieres of the window case,
The moon glimmered amidst the haze;
I’ve striven for success and renown all my life till my hair turns grey,
So strong and thick are the old pines and bamboos by the old mountain trails that hamper my home way,
I wish through the zither my bosom secrets to convey,
But how many people know what the zither plays,
No matter how hard I play it, even breaking its strings in disarray,
Who would understand what I wish to say?