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Dongpo Yuefu 《东坡乐府》

These selected lyrics show how Su Shi turns weather and moonlight into reflections on separation, resilience, and a life that cannot be perfectly complete.

4 verified lines1 linked authors8 connected themes

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4 curated lines
✓ Verified sourceBilingual

人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。

Rén yǒu bēi huān lí hé, yuè yǒu yīn qíng yuán quē, cǐ shì gǔ nán quán.

Close English reading

People have sorrow and joy, meeting and separation; the moon has brightness and shadow, fullness and loss. Such things have never been complete.

Plain meaningLife cannot remain perfect or whole all the time.

Source
Su Shi· Northern Song dynasty · Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Clear and Bright?
Dongpo Yuefu
Why it fitsHuman change and lunar change are placed side by side, making incompleteness a shared condition rather than a private failure.
Original context and translation note
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。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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✓ Verified sourceBilingual

但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

Dàn yuàn rén cháng jiǔ, qiān lǐ gòng chán juān.

Close English reading

May we both live long; though a thousand miles apart, we share the beauty of the moon.

Plain meaningEven far apart, may we be safe and connected under the same moon.

Source
Su Shi· Northern Song dynasty · Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Clear and Bright?
Dongpo Yuefu
Why it fitsThe shared moon becomes a bond between people who cannot physically reunite.
Original context and translation note
但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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✓ Verified sourceBilingual

拣尽寒枝不肯栖，寂寞沙洲冷。

Jiǎn jìn hán zhī bù kěn qī, jì mò shā zhōu lěng.

Close English reading

After choosing through every cold branch, it still refuses to settle, alone on the chilly sandbar.

Plain meaningI would rather remain alone than settle where I do not belong.

Source
Su Shi· Northern Song dynasty · Song of Divination: At Dinghui Temple in Huangzhou
Dongpo Yuefu
Why it fitsThe solitary wild goose is often read as a figure of wounded pride and self-possession, not merely romantic loneliness.
Original context and translation note
谁见幽人独往来？缥缈孤鸿影。惊起却回头，有恨无人省。拣尽寒枝不肯栖，寂寞沙洲冷。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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✓ Verified sourceBilingual

回首向来萧瑟处，归去，也无风雨也无晴。

Huí shǒu xiàng lái xiāo sè chù, guī qù, yě wú fēng yǔ yě wú qíng.

Close English reading

Looking back at the bleak place I came through, I return: there is neither storm nor clear sky.

Plain meaningAfter weathering the storm, I no longer let hardship or ease define me.

Source
Su Shi· Northern Song dynasty · Calming the Waves: Do Not Listen to the Rain Beating Through the Woods
Dongpo Yuefu
Why it fitsThe line looks back on difficulty from a place beyond both fear and forced optimism.
Original context and translation note
竹杖芒鞋轻胜马，谁怕？一蓑烟雨任平生。

The poem begins during a rainstorm, but the ending turns weather into a metaphor for changing circumstances.

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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Su Shi4

Explore related themes

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Letting goLifeCourageFamily & reunionFarewellInner peaceMissing someoneMoon & night

Su Shi's lyric poetry on moonlight, distance, imperfection, weather, and emotional freedom. This page is a curated bilingual selection, not a claim to translate the complete source.

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