Reality In The Mirror

1 黃花忽覺春已別 Abruptly, the yellow flowers felt that spring had left,
2 紅塵驚醒鑒中絕 Startled by reality that the beauty in the mirror had gone.
3風冷情薄如郎心 Heartless is like the cold wind of a lover’s heart,
4 淚啞滿天雲蔽月 Muted tears of fill the sky as clouds obscure the moon.

1 Yellow flowers could either mean the perceived withering into pallor or chrysanthemums – the symbols of autumn to mean the dusk of one’s life. The flowers are the personification of the lady in question.


2 Confirmation by the mirror.

3 Like the wind, her lover is now gone as implied by the last line. 郎 has the same sound as 狼, a wolf.

4 Clouds signify old age/wrinkles obscuring her beauty underneath.

Thursday, August 17, 2023