Drawing a Sword to Sever Water

[Intro]

[Verse 1]

This table of wine atop Xie Tiao Tower

Is to see off a friend soon leaving on a long journey

Yesterdays depart one after another

Without even a farewell

Today’s troubles come pressing down

Each more senseless than the last

[Pre-Chorus]

A wind from ten thousand miles away blows in

Autumn geese head south in formation, refusing to look back

[Chorus]

Yesterday abandoned me and left，beyond recall

Today troubles my heart again with so many cares

Winds sweeping ten thousand miles carry the autumn geese away

At such a sight, we should climb a lofty tower and drink our fill

抽刀断水水更流 — Draw a blade to cut the water, and the water flows all the more

举杯销愁愁更愁 (I raise a cup to drown sorrow, only to deepen it)

[Verse 2]

Your writing has the spirit of Penglai

With the vigor of Jian'an verse and the delicate grace of Xie Tiao

Xie Tiao Tower is his tower

Inside and outside the tower, all is splendor

The two of us, uncle and nephew

Our spirits soar alike, reaching the Dipper and the Ox

[Pre-Chorus]

When my thoughts take flight

I want to climb into the sky and pluck the bright moon into my hand

[Chorus]

Yesterday abandoned me and left，beyond recall

Today troubles my heart again with so many cares

Winds sweeping ten thousand miles carry the autumn geese away

At such a sight, we should climb a lofty tower and drink our fill

抽刀断水水更流 — Draw a blade to cut the water, and the water flows all the more

举杯销愁愁更愁 (I raise a cup to drown sorrow, only to deepen it)

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]

A stream flows below the tower

Flowing thicker than my cares

I draw my blade to cut through it

Once the blade has passed it heals as before

The taste of drowning sorrow in wine

After I sober up, sorrow still crouches at the door

[Bridge]

Living in this world

The times when things go as we wish are truly few

Nine things out of ten meet a roadblock

Even stealing half a day of leisure is hard to come by

Rather than live with a furrowed brow

Better to leave my furrowed brow to wine

Tomorrow morning I will let my hair down

Take a little skiff and roam the rivers and lakes

[Verse 4]

Tonight we'll drink to our hearts' content

Drink to your heart's content, drink your fill

Tomorrow's matters can wait until tomorrow

On the river there is wind, there are wild geese, there are little boats

Just let my hair hang loose

As free as slipping off the hook

[Final Chorus]

Yesterday abandoned me and left，beyond recall

Today troubles my heart again with so many cares

Winds sweeping ten thousand miles carry the autumn geese away

At such a sight, we should climb a lofty tower and drink our fill

抽刀断水水更流 — Draw a blade to cut the water, and the water flows all the more

举杯销愁愁更愁 (I raise a cup to drown sorrow, only to deepen it)

[Outro]

The far-reaching wind still blows outside the tower

Tomorrow's little boat waits at the ferry crossing