霄漢

霄漢

1. (literary, poetic) the sky; the firmament

   • 鳳閣龍樓連霄漢，玉樹瓊枝作煙蘿。幾曾識干戈？ [Ci, trad.]
     凤阁龙楼连霄汉，玉树琼枝作烟萝。几曾识干戈？ [Ci, simp.]

     From: c. 976, Last Lord of Southern Tang,《破陣子·四十年來家國》, translation see here

     Fènggé lónglóu lián xiāohàn, yùshù qióngzhī zuò yānluó. Jǐcéng shí gāngē? [Pinyin]

     My royal palace scraping the celestial spheres,
     My shady forest looking deep like leafy dreams,
     What did I know of shields and spears?

   • 天機織罷月梭閑，石壁高垂雪練寒，氷絲帶雨懸霄漢，幾千年、曬未乾。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     天机织罢月梭闲，石壁高垂雪练寒，冰丝带雨悬霄汉，几千年、晒未干。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: early 14th century, 喬吉,《水仙子·重觀瀑布》(A Waterfall Revisited)

     Tiānjī zhī bà yuèsuō xián, shíbì gāo chuí xuěliàn hán, bīngsī dài yǔ xuán xiāohàn, jǐqiānnián, shài wèi gān. [Pinyin]

     The loom of the sky has stopped working, the moon shuttle rests;
     The stone cliff hovers, the silklike snow cold,
     Threads of ice carrying rain hang from the sky:
     For thousands of years it has never dried up.