Song Of Everlasting Regret [for Hong Kong] 長恨歌 [香港] Poem by Keith Shorrocks Johnson

長恨歌



某个皇帝渴望永久的公民和平

他认为这将通过均匀性获得

这样所有人都会符合他对美的要求-

虽然有些人忠诚于誓言

并断定力量在于差异和多样性

受相互依存的共同理解所束缚-

但大多数情况下，大多数人假装遵守，

像杨贵妃那样风骚而微妙，

他们的服从预示着一个被历史浪潮淹没的帝国。



Song of Everlasting Regret



A certain Emperor longed for perpetual civil peace

And this he thought would be obtained by uniformity

Such that all would conform to his mandates of beauty -

Though there were those with integrity who swore loyalty

And averred that strength lay in difference and diversity

Bound by a common understanding of interdependence -

But for the most part, the majority feigned adherence,

Coquettish and purportedly delicate like Yang Guifei,

Their subservience presaged an empire drowned by the tide of history.