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Sharing a verse with you guys(Chinese and English editions) 袖底风· 绿袖Green Sleeves---love in dismay   我思断肠,伊人不臧。Alas my love, you do me wrong   弃我远去,抑郁难当。 To cast me off discourteously   我心相属,日久月长。I have loved you all so long   与卿相依,地老天荒。Delighting in your company   绿袖招兮,我心欢朗。Green sleeves was all my joy   绿袖飘兮,我心痴狂。Green sleeves was my delight   绿袖摇兮,我心流光。Green sleeves was my heart of gold   绿袖永兮,非我新娘。And who but my Lady Greensleeves   我即相偎,柔荑纤香。I have been ready at your hand   我自相许,舍身何妨。To grant whatever you would crave   欲求永年,此生归偿。I have both waged life and land   回首欢爱,四顾茫茫。Your love and good will for to have   伊人隔尘,我亦无望。Thou couldst desire no earthly thing   彼端箜篌,渐疏渐响。But still thou hadst it readily   人既永绝,心自飘霜。Thy music still to play and sing   斥欢斥爱,绿袖无常。And yet thou wouldst not love me   绿袖去矣,付与流觞。Green sleeves now farewell adieu   我燃心香,寄语上苍。God I pray to prosper thee   我心犹炽,不灭不伤。For I am still thy lover true   伫立垅间,待伊归乡。Come once again and love me

Corrections · 2

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Sharing a verse with you guys(Chinese and English editions)

袖底风· 绿袖Green Sleeves---love in dismay

  我思断肠,伊人不臧。Alas my love, you thou dost me wrong

  弃我远去,抑郁难当。 To cast me off discourteously

  我心相属,日久月长。I have loved you thee all oh so long

  与卿相依,地老天荒。Delighting in your thy company

  绿袖招兮,我心欢朗。Green sleeves was all my joy

  绿袖飘兮,我心痴狂。Green sleeves wast my delight

  绿袖摇兮,我心流光。Green sleeves wast my heart of gold

  绿袖永兮,非我新娘。And to whom but to my Lady Greensleeves

  我即相偎,柔荑纤香。I Have I been ready at your thy hand

  我自相许,舍身何妨。To grant whatever you thou wouldst crave

  欲求永年,此生归偿。I have both waged both life and land

  回首欢爱,四顾茫茫。For your thy love and good will for to have

  伊人隔尘,我亦无望。Thou couldst desire no earthly thing

  彼端箜篌,渐疏渐响。But still thou hadst it readily

  人既永绝,心自飘霜。Thy music still to play and sing

  斥欢斥爱,绿袖无常。And yet thou wouldst not love me

  绿袖去矣,付与流觞。Green sleeves now farewell I bid adieu

  我燃心香,寄语上苍。And God I pray I to prosper favor thee

  我心犹炽,不灭不伤。For I am I still thy lover true

  伫立垅间,待伊归乡。Come once again and love me

 

Absolutely lovely!  I made several minor changes: you are granting to Lady Greensleeves, so grammatically you must use "to whom but to my Lady...".  "Prosper" is an intransitive verb so cannot take the direct object "thee", so I substituted "favor".  I moved "both" to "I have waged both life and land" because it fits better metrically.  "All" is incorrect here, but I understand you need an intensifier, so I substituted "oh" which has the added benefit of the sound of lament.  I'm really impressed at your correct use of antiquated forms -- "thee", "didst" etc.  Thou couldst more consistant be.  For example "your" should be "thy" throughout.  I corrected this.  Was the original Chinese similarly antiquated in its language?  In the third last and second last lines I transposed "I" to make it scan better.  Also this usage is quite common in Elizabethan English.  What I love about your translation is that it's quite smooth and lovely 15th Century English, but it still retains it Chineseness.  Really lovely.

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Hi – fantastic post – thanks for sharing. It would be wonderful if you could post Chinese translations of other English classics. Besides learning classic Chinese songs, I also like to listen to/learn Chinese version of pop/musical/film hits.

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