Today I want to share a sad and beautiful Ci/词 titled "Piteous the Moon", whose tune is named "Die Lian Hua". Ci/词 is a kind of ancient Chinese poem which can be used for singing as lyrics to the special tune.
《蝶恋花·辛苦最怜天上月》
清•纳兰性德
辛苦最怜天上月，
一夕如环，
夕夕都成玦。
若似月轮终皎洁，
不辞冰雪为卿热。
无那尘缘容易绝，
燕子依然，
软踏帘钩说。
唱罢秋坟愁未歇，
春丛认取双栖蝶。
Piteous the Moon
(To the Tune of Dielianhua)
Nalan Xinde
So piteous the moon seems:
a full circle keeps waning,
waning into half a circle, and then
all over again, night after night.
If only you could recover likewise,
from the half to the full,
your body, cold as ice, as snow,
would be brought to life
by the warmth of mine.
Irrecoverably, you left me.
The swallows twitter lovingly, as before,
on the soft valance hooks.
It does not alleviate my agony
to sing through the “Autumn Elegies.”
Oh that we could be a pair of butterflies
flying amidst the spring flowers,
in the next life.
I just find its English version online
randomly, so I have no idea about know who translated it, yet. However, its original author Nalan Xingde was a famous poet from noble class in Qing dynasty. He wrote several mourning poems to memorize his deceased wife and this is one of them.
Although I don't think the English version above is as wonderful as the origin with an aesthetic value, it is ok enough for foreigners to understand.
How I wish I could translate it on my own!
For my part, I love this sentence very much: 一夕如环，夕夕都成玦.
Each month the full moon appears like a beautiful ring/环 in one night, but in other nights the moon is incomplete and looks like the crescent 玦 (which is a penannular jade ring worn as an ornament in ancient China.).
It means "The moon is the most pitiful, which is complete/perfect/consummate only for one night, but paid incomplete for other nights as cost." Here the author compared himself to the moon. By reminiscing about the short golden time with his beloved wife, he felt all the rest days of his life after her passing away were unhappy, incomplete and melancholy.