THE BANANA
芭蕉
Who’s planted before my window the banana trees,
窗前誰種芭蕉樹?
Whose shadows in the courtyard please?
陰滿中庭。
Their shadows in the courtyard please,
陰滿中庭,
For all the leaves are outspread from the heart
葉葉心心,
As if unwilling to be kept apart.
舒卷有余情。
Heart-broken on my pillow, I hear midnight rain
傷心枕上三更雨,
Drizzling now and again.
點滴霖霪。
Drizzling now and again,
點滴霖霪,
It saddens a Northern woman who sighs.
愁損北人,
What can she do, unused to it, but rise?
不慣起來聽。