秋蝉

听我把春水叫寒
看我把绿野催黄
谁道秋霞一心愁
烟波林野意悠悠

花落红花落红
红了枫红了枫
展翅任翔双雨燕
我这薄衣过得残冬

总归是秋天
总归是秋天
春走了
夏也去
秋意浓
秋去冬来美景不再
莫教好春逝匆匆

English #1 – Autumn Cicada Chant

Autumn Cicada’s Chant
Bing Chang’s Translation – 10-3-2022

Lyricist: Li Ziheng
Composer: Li Ziheng

Listen, I chill the spring dew that shrills in dismay.
Look, I turn green leaves yellow without delay.
Who said autumn’s heart is all sorrow filled?
Wavering mist, wild woods, tranquility instilled.

Littered are flowers in red; allover are flowers in red.
Maples are showered in red; they all are showered in red.
With spreading wings, soaring high are swallows in pairs.
With a thin cover, can I resist the brutal winter without despair?

Autumn is autumn. It’s always the autumn.
Gone is spring, so is summer, heavily savored is autumn.
Autumn fades as winter comes. All beauties vanish.
Not rushing cherished spring away, indeed, it’s my wish.

Submitted by Bing Chang

English #2 – Autumn Cicada

Listen to my cries chilling the spring water
Behold me buzzing to yellow the verdant fields
Who said the autumn glow’s only with anxiety
Foggy forest and wilderness are full of feelings

Fall red flowers, fall red flowers
Redden the maples, redden the maples
As the wing-spread pair of soaring swifts
In this thin shirt can I undergo the nigh winter

Autumn after all
Autumn after all
Spring passed
Summer left
Autumn is high
Beauty’s about to wither as the winter’s coming
Don’t let the spring go in a hurry

By Isaiah Siegfried Chen