No Title (Heavy Curtains Deep Below the Melancholy Chamber)

No Title (Heavy Curtains Deep Below the Melancholy Chamber)

Untitled

Li Shangyin

Through layered curtains deep descends the hall of No Sorrow,

and lying awake, the clear night stretches out, slow and long.

The life of the goddess was nothing but a dream from the start;

the young maiden's chamber was ever without a man.

The wind and waves will not believe the water-chestnut bough is frail—

who bids the moon and dew make laurel leaves give forth their scent?

I know full well that longing brings me no good,

yet I cannot help it—this sorrow is my pure madness.