Saying Good-bye to Cambridge Again

--by Xu Zhimo

     Very quietly I take my leave

  As quietly as I came here;

  Quietly I wave good-bye

  To the rosy clouds in the western sky.

  The golden willows by the riverside

  Are young brides in the setting sun;

  Their reflections on the shimmering waves

  Always linger in the depth of my heart.

  The floating heart growing in the sludge

  Sways leisurely under the water;

  In the gentle waves of Cambridge

  I would be a water plant!

  That pool under the shade of elm trees

  Holds not water but the rainbow from the sky;

  Shattered to pieces among the duckweeds

  Is the sediment of a rainbow-like dream?

  To seek a dream? Just to pole a boat upstream

  To where the green grass is more verdant;

  Or to have the boat fully loaded with starlight

  And sing aloud in the splendor of starlight.

  But I cannot sing aloud

  Quietness is my farewell music;

  Even summer insects heap silence for me

  Silent is Cambridge tonight!

  Very quietly I take my leave

  As quietly as I came here;

  Gently I flick my sleeves

  Not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away

  Help:

  Rosy: adj.蔷薇色的, 玫瑰红色的

  Shimmering: adj.微微发亮的

  Sludge: n.软泥, 淤泥, 矿泥, 煤泥

  Leisurely: adv.从容不迫

  Duckweeds: n.[植] 浮萍