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 “Like a Dream: Swallows” depicts the loneliness and expectations of a woman in her boudoir with delicate brushstrokes, and through the dialogue between people and swallows, reveals the poet’s rich inner world.
吴藻·《如梦令·燕子》
燕子未随春去，
飞入绣帘深处。
软语话多时，
莫是要和侬住？
延伫，延伫，
含笑回它：“不许！”
Ru meng ling:
A Swallow
Wu Zao
A swallow not having left with spring
Flies deep inside embroidered shades,
For hours speaking softly.
Could his wish be to stay with me?
He waits…
He waits …
I answer him smiling, “You may not!”
（Antony C. Yu 译）
Tune: Ju-meng ling (As in a Dream: A Song)
Title: Swallows
Wu Tsao
Not all the swallows have left with the spring:
One flies past embroidered curtains into my inner room.
Softly, endlessly, it murmurs;
Could it be saying, “May I stay with you?”
Waiting for an answer,
Waiting for an answer,
With a smile, I reply, “No, you mustn’t.”
（Irving Y. Lo 译）
