天与秋光,转转情伤,探金英知近重阳。薄衣初试,绿蚁新尝,渐一番风,一番雨,一番凉。黄昏院落,凄凄惶惶,酒醒时往事愁肠。那堪永夜,明月空床。闻砧声捣,蛩声细,漏声长,漏声长。天与秋光,转转情伤,探金英知近重阳。薄衣初试,绿蚁新尝,渐一番风,一番雨,一番凉。黄昏院落,凄凄惶惶,酒醒时往事愁肠。那堪永夜,明月空床。闻砧声捣,蛩声细,漏声长,漏声长。蛩声细,漏声长,漏声长。
Translation by Jiaosheng Wang
Tune: "On the Trail of Sweet Incense".
Golden chrysanthemums just in bloom
Tell of the approach of the Double Ninth Festival.
A bounteous gift from Heaven these autumnal tints,
Which however bring sadness in their train
As circumstances change.
I try on my thin dress, taste new-brewed wine,
Aware that I am in for
A spell of wind,
A spell of rain,
A spell of cold.
Yellowing twilight fills my rooms
With gloom and anxiety.
Memories of heart-rending sorrow
Overwhelm me as I sober up from wine.
An unending night,
A full moon flooding an empty bed.
In my ears the dull thud
Of mallets on the washing-blocks,
The feeble chirp of crickets,
The monotonous dripping of the clepsydra.