ZHOU Bangyan – Lyrics to the Melody of the West River (In remembrance of bygone eras at Jinling)
In this prosperous region, who remembers the South's grand eras?
Mountains and fields of the countryside and the winding Yangtze
Surround and build up away from the city.
Raging billows like loneliness towards a solitary castle heave,
On the distant horizon navigate sails and masts of ships.
Off the precipice rugged trees overhang still,
Who still comes here to secure the boat of a gent who never worried?
All that remains on a historic site is sentimentality.
And fog has come to one half of a castle conceal.
Deep in the night, over the parapet the moon shines,
In grief I look towards the east where pass the waters of River Huai.
What a flourishing city full of wine vendors' pennants and operatic drumming!
Faint is the memory of the Wangs, the Xies and their neighbourhoods,
Swallows have come and gone for generations that all have lost count of.
There are now ordinary people along the same streets and alleyways,
Telling tales of the rise and fall of former times in the setting sun.