忆秦娥·立夏

Summer Begins

(To the Tune of "Memories of Qin's Maiden" )

薰风细，

深春未泯千芳丽。

A balmy breeze, subtle and light, 

Spring's last grace holds blooms in splendor bright. 

千芳丽，

莺啼碎玉，

蝶翻金缀。

Beauty persisting, 

Through jade-shattering trills of orioles twisting, 

Gold-wrought flutters where butterflies glisten. 

忽惊节序抛梭逝，

赤云烧彻穹苍际。

Startled—how seasons flee like shuttles thrown, 

Crimson clouds scorch the dome where sky's hearthstone. 

穹苍际，

奔雷裂帛，

气移天地。

Celestial sphere ablaze, 

Where thunder rends silk in its sudden craze, 

Breath shifts heaven-earth through cosmic phase.