Red Cliff Meditation
赤壁懷古 （念奴嬌 – [to the tune of “Do Not Forget Exquisite Little Me”）
Su Shi (1082)
（蘇軾）
The Great River eastward goes, 大江東去
its waves have rinsed clean [the land of] 浪淘儘
a thousand years of celebrities. 千古風流人物
Westward of a bygone fortress,故壘西邊
folk suppose, 人道是
lies the Three Kingdoms and Duke Zhou’s “Red Cliff.” 三國周郎赤壁
[There,] confusions of rock collapse in clouds, 亂石崩雲
jarring breakers split the riverbanks 驚濤裂案
scrolling up a thousand piles of snow。 捲起千堆雪
The river, the mountains, are as in a painting. 江山如畫
So many heroes, [just] one [instant of] time. 一是多少豪傑
[My mind] drifts back to that very year 遙想公瑾 當年
the Duke wed princess Qiao, 小喬初嫁了
[his] courage erupting in bravado, 雄姿英發
his feathered fan and ducal headdress 羽扇綸巾
amidst banter and laughter, [and then,] 談笑間
[great walls] of high-masted galleys, in flying ash and smoke, destroyed. 檣臚灰飛煙滅
[Just] a spirit-visit to an ancient land, 古國神遊
so maudlin one ought to laugh at me, 多情應笑我
[my] hair already greying. 早生華髮
Amidst men, it is as in a dream. 人間如夢
One winecup offered up to the River’s moon.一尊還酹江月
(Translation by John J. Tkacik)
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