白头吟 (Song of Unwavering Love)
两汉·卓文君(Zhuo, Wenjun) ·I hope to find that pure of heart
to stay with until white hair grows.
Original Poem
闻君有两意，故来相决绝。
今日斗酒会，明旦沟水头。
躞蹀御沟上，沟水东西流。
凄凄复凄凄，嫁娶不须啼。
愿得一心人，白头不相离。
竹竿何袅袅，鱼尾何簁簁！
男儿重意气，何用钱刀为！
— 两汉 · 卓文君《白头吟》
Translation
and fair as cloud-cloaked moon.
I know your heart cannot decide,
so I have come to say goodbye.
Tonight the wine still pours for us,
tomorrow, where the river parts –
I pace the shore and feel our time
like water flowing to its end.
A marriage shouldn’t make one cry,
in desolate and lonely cold.
I hope to find that pure of heart
to stay with until white hair grows.
Your will bends like a fishing rod,
and wavers like the fish tail swings!
A true man treats his word as gold,
and money can’t make up for it.
Note
Zhuo Wenjun(卓文君) is a lady living in Western Han(汉) dynasty, she became a widow at the age of seventeen, then she fell in love with Sima, Xiangru(司马相如), a very smart and talented young man. However, their love was strongly obstructed by Zhuo’s father, so she escaped from the Zhuo Mansion and eloped with her beloved. To support him finacially, she sold alchohol on the street for a living. Later, when Xiangru became much more successful in his career, he wanted to marry another woman as his concubine. It was at that time when Zhuo Wenjun wrote this song to express her persistence and longing for love, as well as to show a woman’s tenacity and pride.