Li Shangyin Poem: Untitled Poems – 李商隐《无题四首（其一）》

无题四首（其一）

李商隐

来是空言去绝踪，

月斜楼上五更钟。

梦为远别啼难唤，

书被催成墨未浓。

蜡照^[1]半笼金翡翠^[2]，

麝薰^[3]微度绣芙蓉^[4]。

刘郎^[5]已恨蓬山^[6]远，

更隔蓬山一万重。

注释：

[1] 蜡照：烛光。

[2] 金翡翠：指上面镶有翡翠鸟图案的金色屏风。

[3] 麝薰：麝香的气味。

[4] 绣芙蓉：指上面绣有芙蓉花图案的帷帐。

[5] 刘郎：指刘晨。据说汉末（公元三世纪初）刘晨、阮肇上天台采药，山中迷路。遇二仙女，结成一段奇缘，返回家乡时人间已过了七世，后以“刘郎”指情郎。

[6] 蓬山：海中三仙山之一，这里指意中人的住处。

Untitled Poems （Ⅰ）

Li Shangyin

You said you’d come but you have gone and left no trace;

I hear in the moonlit tower the fifth watch bell.

In dream my cry could not call you back from distant place;

In haste with ink unthickened I cannot write well.

The candlelight illuminates half our broidered bed;

The smell of musk still faintly sweetens lotus screen.

Beyond my reach the far-off fairy mountains spread;

But you’re still farther off than fairy mountains green.

The poet writes for one unnamed lover who passed sweet nights together with him.