吴藻（1799～1862），女，清代著名女曲作家、词人，字苹香，自号玉岑子，浙江仁和（今杭州）人，祖籍安徽黟县。幼而好学，长则肆力于词，又精绘事，自绘饮酒读骚图，又题饮酒读骚图曲。著有《花帘词》一卷、《香南雪北词》一卷、《饮酒读骚图曲》（又名《乔影》）、《花帘书屋诗》等。
Wu Zao (1799-1862), female, was a famous female composer and lyricist in the Qing Dynasty. Her courtesy name was Pingxiang and her self given name was Yucenzi. She was born in Renhe, Zhejiang (now Hangzhou) and her ancestral home was Yixian, Anhui. I am eager to learn from a young age, but as I grew up, I devoted myself to writing lyrics and was skilled in depicting events. I drew drinking and reading erotic paintings on my own, and even wrote songs about drinking and reading erotic paintings. He has written a volume of “Hualian Ci”, a volume of “Xiangnan Xuebei Ci”, “Drinking and Reading Sao Tu Qu” (also known as “Qiao Ying”), “Hualian Bookstore Poetry” and so on.
Wu Zao’s “Xingxiangzi” depicts a poignant scene of sleepless nights filled with melancholy with delicate brushstrokes and deep emotions.
吴藻·《行香子》
长夜迢迢，
落叶萧萧。
纸窗儿、不住风敲。
茶温烟冷，
炉暗香消。
正小庭空，
双扉掩，
一灯挑。
愁也难抛，
梦也难招。
拥寒衾、睡也无聊。
凄凉景况，
齐作今宵。
有漏声沉，
铃声苦，
雁声高。
Tune: Hsing-hsiang tzu (Fragrant Wandering: A Song)
Wu Tsao
The night seems endless
Leaves whisper as they fall
The wind oppresses the paper window nonstop.
Steam from the tea grows cold
The stove is dark, the incense finished,
Empty as the small yard.
I close the doors,
Raise the wick.
Sorrow is as hard to shake off
As dreams are difficult to summon.
And to sleep in the embrace of a cold quilt-no!
This night is none long cold misery.
The dregs of time seep through the clepsydra
The grim sound of a bell
The shrill cry of the geese.
（Julia Landau 译）
