Chinese poem illustration: 锦瑟/ The Magnificent Se by Li Shangyin.
An article deep dive into this poem in Chinese: 此情今再忆,锦瑟五十年
YouTube above not applicable? watch full video on Bilibili: 锦瑟
This poem is just like pearl and jade among the rich and glorious Tang poetry. It might not be the most popular poem, while it is regarded as most sophisticated and mysterious Tang poem by poetry lovers, by poets through the 1200 years Chinese history afterwards.The perfect wording, the colorful images and illusions, the mysterious subject almost impossible to decipher make this masterpiece also the greatest puzzle in Chinese poetry history.
This video is my personal approach to decipher this poem, adding one more possibility to so many existing explanations of this poem: epitaph(墓志铭) of his whole life by himself.
PS: The 3rd pair of sentences also expressed that his sad and forgotten feelings are like tear drops of pearl in deep ocean, his spirit is just like smoke of jade which would go beyond the huge South mountains at the place of Lantian(蓝田). If you read Chinese, you could read my deep dive analysis at: https://www.choubb.com/?p=3957
锦瑟
李商隐
锦瑟无端五十弦，
一弦一柱思华年。
庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶，
望帝春心托杜鹃。
沧海月明珠有泪，
蓝田日暖玉生烟。
此情可待成追忆，
只是当时已惘然。
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