Shui Diao Ge Tou 水调歌头

Shui Diao Ge Tou
                          --By Su Shi (Su Dongpo)

Will a moon so bright ever arise again?
Drink a cupful of wine and ask of the sky.
I don't know wher the palace gate of heaven is,
Or even the year in which tonight slips by.
I want to return riding the whirl-wind! But I
Feel afraid that this heaven of jasper and jade
Lets in the cold, its palaces rear so high.
I shall get up and dance with my own shadow.
From life endured among men how far a cry!

Round the red pavilion
Slanting through the lattices
onto every wakeful eye,
Moon, why should you bear a grudge, O why
Insist in time of separation on filling the sky?
Men know joy and sorrow, parting and reunio
The moon lacks lustre, brightly shines; is all, is less.
Perfection was never easily come by.
Though miles apart, could men but live for ever
Dreaming they shared this moonlight endlessly!
Tr. A. Ayling & D. Mackintosh


水调歌头
                            苏东坡（北宋）

明月几时有？把酒问青天。
不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年？
我欲乘风归去，
又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。
起舞弄清影，何似在人间？

转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。
不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？
人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。
但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。