A Humble Offering of Delicate Fragrance

[Intro]

[Verse 1]

On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month

I follow the fragrance of wine up the hill

Whose darkly painted brows do the distant hills resemble

Faintly drawn into the distance

The farther I walk, the steeper the mountain path grows

The scattered dwellings grow ever colder

[Pre-Chorus]

The wind up high listens to no reason

Blowing until the heart grows uneasy

[Chorus]

Whose slender figure do the chrysanthemums resemble

I wash the green cup clean to hold a handful of subtle fragrance

Water in the open well reflects the light of the sky

Gently offering up September

How many times autumn colors and wild geese’s cries have stirred sorrow

All sink into the slanting sunlight

[Verse 2]

White hair hides beneath the black hat

Every strand is frost-white as the frost of Wu

The wind insists on blowing so wildly

Blowing the tavern banner aslant

I guard the empty flask in my arms

I push onward, stumbling over uneven ground

[Pre-Chorus]

We have reached the tavern on the mountaintop

A cup of new wine warms the heart

[Chorus]

Whose slender figure do the chrysanthemums resemble

I wash the green cup clean to hold a handful of subtle fragrance

Water in the open well reflects the light of the sky

Gently offering up September

How many times autumn colors and wild geese’s cries have stirred sorrow

All sink into the slanting sunlight

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]

It was this same day last year

The same yellow blanketed the mountains

The festival comes only once a year

In this world meetings and partings are uncertain

The western chamber has stood empty for so long

For whom does tonight's lamp shine

[Bridge]

The cries of wild geese pass overhead

Each call longer than the last

I want to ask it for some news

It says all sorrow hides in the slanting sun

Do not ask how much sorrow there is

Swallow it all with the wine, do not speak of it

The mountains catch the setting sun

I offer a cup to the boundless vastness

[Verse 4]

It was late when I came down the mountain

Chrysanthemum fragrance still lingers at my cuffs

On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month next year

I don't know who will be beside me

But I will wash the green cup clean

Warm a pot of hope for the coming year

[Final Chorus]

Whose slender figure do the chrysanthemums resemble

I wash the green cup clean to hold a handful of subtle fragrance

Water in the open well reflects the light of the sky

Gently offering up September

How many times autumn colors and wild geese’s cries have stirred sorrow

All sink into the slanting sunlight

[Outro]

The autumn colors slowly darken

The cries of wild geese sink into the slanting sunset too