此情无计可消除,才下眉头,却上心头

what does this mean

中文 (简体)
中文 (繁体，台湾) 半母语者

"There's no way to dispel this feeling (between lovers who miss each other). When you finally manage to make it disappear from your eyebrows, it emerges in your heart at once."

Of course, the original language is more poetic, and I'm just trying to translate it in a quite literal way.

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英语 (美国)

@ChinglishTeadent wow!! thank you for this explanation.

中文 (简体)

O how can such lovesickness be driven away?
From eyebrows kept apart,
Again it gnaws my heart.

Translated by Xu Yuanchong, a famed translator who devoted his life to this career.

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ChinglishTeadent

中文 (简体)
中文 (繁体，台湾) 半母语者

@xiaoshuo8 You are welcome!

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英语 (美国)

@JuliusLonn it was really poetic!! wow thank you!!

中文 (简体)

I'm really glad that you liked it!! Li Qingzhao, the poet, is broadly regarded as China’s greatest woman poet. And I'd like to share with you the whole poem:

A Twig of Mume Blossoms
Li Qingzhao
Fragrant lotus blooms fade, autumn chills mat of jade.
My silk robe doffed, I float alone in orchid boat.
Who in the cloud would bring me letters in brocade?
When swans come back in flight,
My bower is steeped in moonlight.
As fallen flowers drift and water runs its way,
One longing leaves no traces
But overflows two places.
O how can such lovesickness be driven away? From eyebrows kept apart,
Again it gnaws my heart.
(Xu Yuanchong)

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英语 (美国)

@JuliusLonn wow! thank you again! i would love to know more bout this artist. i'll search her works. Her poem, does it mean only one person misses the other person? but even if he/she feel love sickness she can't eliminate it?

中文 (简体)

This poem, or Ci, is created by her after she parted with her husband Zhao Mingcheng. As you can read in this Ci, she floated in the orchid boat to eliminate her lovesickness after their parting, and then boarded the high tower (is board appropriate here? plz let me know). She admired the moon and felt frustrated that the coming wild goose didn't bring a letter from his husband. Then by similes that their lovesickness of love were natural like flowers faded and fallen and rivers flowed east, she illustrated that there is no elimination. This Ci contains the deep feeling that Li cannot bear to part with her husband, reflecting the pure heart of a newly married wife abandoned to love.

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英语 (美国)

@JuliusLonn you explained it perfectly. such a sad yet so beautiful poem to express one's feelings. yeah "boarded" is right, it can be used to mean "getting into something" or rode something.

中文 (简体)

In Chinese poetry, a poet build the mood of his work by images. And there are several commonly used images, such as the wild goose, which usually carried letters and flied between places. When people see the wild goose, they know that they can hear from the people they miss or love. Therefore, it usually carries the meaning of yearning.

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中文 (简体)

Really?! Thank you! I'm still struggling with English now, and it feels great that I could help you!

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