Listen to this articleSong of Everlasting Sorrow (長 恨 歌)
A Chinese Emperor longed for a beauty to match his kingdom
Looking ever looking, without finding, until
In the Yang family, a young girl, growing and maturing
Well-hidden and unknown, yet one
Naturally beautiful, one cannot hide such beauty, thus
One day she met the emperor and
Returned his look with a smile,
So beginning one hundred beautiful lives,
As the girls of six hundred houses lost their luster
There are many additional verses.
The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (Regret) (長 恨 歌) by Bai Juyi (772-846) retells the love story of the beautiful Yang Guifei (719-756) and Emperor Xuanzong, and the cause of the An Lushan Rebellion that began in December of 755.
Yang Guifei
Yang Guifei is said to have had “a face that put all flowers to shame”.
The story is told:
Locked in the palace, Yang Guifel lamented to the peony and the rose, “Flower, flower, full of bloom, when shall I see the light of day?”
Seeing her plight, the flowers and leaves, drooped in sorrow and shame as she passed.
Yang Guifei would meet a tragic end during the An Lushan Rebellion.
There are over 100 verses, and so I must come back from time to time to complete the translation.
Yes, there are many, many translations.
Original Chinese
長 恨 歌
漢皇重色思傾國
御宇多年求不得
天生麗質難自棄
一朝選在君王側
回眸一笑百媚生
六宮粉黛無顏色
