The Rustling Maple Grove

[Intro]

[Verse 1]

I pass Miluo by boat

I go ashore to seek the gate of Sanlü Temple

The temple is neither large nor particularly new

Yet the incense offerings have never ceased

The temple keeper is dozing

The bell at the eaves drifts into a reverie of its own

[Pre-Chorus]

The Yuan and Xiang rivers lie beyond the mountains

Rushing downstream without pause, day and night

[Chorus]

The waters of the Yuan and Xiang flow without end

How deep does Qu Yuan's grievance run

At dusk the autumn wind comes gust after gust

Blowing maple leaves down in flurries

The rustling sound of the maple woods

Has not paused in a thousand years

[Verse 2]

That poet from two thousand years ago

The loyal minister with fragrant herbs pinned all over his robes

No one listens to what he says

The one he loved broke his heart

And so he cradled a stone

He walked to the riverbank in the fifth month

[Pre-Chorus]

The river holds him tight

Keeping his innocence safe for him

[Chorus]

The waters of the Yuan and Xiang flow without end

How deep does Qu Yuan's grievance run

At dusk the autumn wind comes gust after gust

Blowing maple leaves down in flurries

The rustling sound of the maple woods

Has not paused in a thousand years

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]

I stood in the temple for a while

Looking at the cloud of sorrow between his statue's brows

Though a thousand years have already passed

That grievance is still carved into the growth rings

The sky had darkened when I stepped outside

The autumn wind draws dusk tight

[Bridge]

The maple grove rustles loudly

As though someone were chanting aloud

I can't make out which line it is

But the grief in that voice pierced bone and soul

路漫漫其修远兮 — Long, long is the road stretching far ahead

He kept searching above and below

Now someone else is doing the searching

The maple grove still keeps watch over dusk for him

[Verse 4]

The rice dumplings of every fifth lunar month

Are warmth cast into the river

Dragon boats cleave the waves

Voices calling to him gather into a chorus

One person has grieved for a thousand years

Remembered with care by generation after generation

[Final Chorus]

The waters of the Yuan and Xiang flow without end

How deep does Qu Yuan's grievance run

At dusk the autumn wind comes gust after gust

Blowing maple leaves down in flurries

The rustling sound of the maple woods

Has not paused in a thousand years

[Outro]

Night has fallen completely and the temple gates are shut

The Yuan and Xiang still surge in the darkness