The Lady to Her Guitar ft.Hokkien [SSC7 Poetry Challenge]
Compose a heartfelt fusion ballad based on Emily Brontë’s poem “The Lady to Her Guitar”, combining traditional Taiwanese Nakasī style with Yunnan folk influences. The song must preserve all four original English stanzas in full and unedited, with short emotional Taiwanese Hokkien (台語) lyric lines inserted after each stanza. Musical style should include a slow 4/4 tempo (~76 BPM), using electric keyboard (電子琴), warm electric bass, steady drum machine, expressive acoustic piano and cello for emotional depth. Prominently feature nylon-string guitar (fingerstyle or arpeggiated) to reflect the poem’s theme. In addition, include Yunnan folk instruments such as hulusi (葫蘆絲), Chinese bamboo flute (笛子), and traditional plucked strings (e.g., yueqin, sanxian) to add a rich ethnic atmosphere. The overall sound should be bittersweet, nostalgic, and poetic, blending English Romanticism with Taiwanese and Chinese folk traditions. Language: English (poem) + Taiwanese Hokkien. Title: "The Lady to Her
The Lady to Her Guitar ft.Hokkien [SSC7 Poetry Challenge]
Compose a heartfelt fusion ballad based on Emily Brontë’s poem “The Lady to Her Guitar”, combining traditional Taiwanese Nakasī style with Yunnan folk influences. The song must preserve all four original English stanzas in full and unedited, with short emotional Taiwanese Hokkien (台語) lyric lines inserted after each stanza. Musical style should include a slow 4/4 tempo (~76 BPM), using electric keyboard (電子琴), warm electric bass, steady drum machine, expressive acoustic piano and cello for emotional depth. Prominently feature nylon-string guitar (fingerstyle or arpeggiated) to reflect the poem’s theme. In addition, include Yunnan folk instruments such as hulusi (葫蘆絲), Chinese bamboo flute (笛子), and traditional plucked strings (e.g., yueqin, sanxian) to add a rich ethnic atmosphere. The overall sound should be bittersweet, nostalgic, and poetic, blending English Romanticism with Taiwanese and Chinese folk traditions. Language: English (poem) + Taiwanese Hokkien. Title: "The Lady to Her
Lyrics
【Verse 1】
For him who struck thy foreign string,
I ween this heart hath ceased to care;
Then why dost thou such feelings bring
To my sad spirit—old Guitar?
【Chorus 1 ：Hokkien】
為著彼个伊彈著吉他聲
為了那個人彈過的吉他聲音
For the sound of the guitar he once played
阮早就放乎伊，心無掛礙
我早已放下他，內心沒有牽掛
I let him go long ago, with no more burden in my heart
老吉他啊你遮聲音
老吉他啊，你這個聲音
Old guitar, your sound…
彈著我心內酸酸，愛怨嘆幾工
撩動我心裡的酸楚，讓我怨嘆好幾天
Strikes the sour in my heart, makes me sigh for days
⸻
【Verse 2】
It is as if the warm sunlight
In some deep glen should lingering stay,
When clouds of tempest, or shades of night,
Had wrapt the parent orb away.
【Chorus 2 ：Hokkien】
親像日頭照著彼个山溝
就像陽光照在那個山谷
Like sunlight shining into that mountain hollow
天公黑暗暝，風雨攏來擋
但天色昏暗，風雨全來阻擋
Though clouds and storms block the light
照著邊仔角的溫暖
照在角落僅存的一絲溫暖
Still warming that little hidden corner
是阮心內，上憨的夢
那是我心中最天真的夢
It’s the most innocent dream in my heart
⸻
【Bridge ：Hokkien】
阮心內搭底的河水 為你流過一改目屎
我心底的河流，曾為你流過一次眼淚
The river deep in my heart once wept for you
一支吉他唱出這條舊情歌
一把吉他唱出了這首舊情歌
One guitar sings this song of old love
阮才知影 傷心的人 攏佇歌聲
我才明白，所有的傷心人，都住在歌聲裡
Only then I knew — all the broken hearts live in song
⸻
【Verse 3】
It is as if the glassy brook
Should image still its willows fair,
Though years ago the woodman’s stroke
Laid low in dust their gleaming hair.
【Chorus 3 ：Hokkien】
清澈溪水閣映著青絲
清澈溪水還映照著綠柳絲絲
The clear brook still reflects the willow’s strands
毋驚阮知影，彼樹早著落
彷彿不怕我知道，那棵樹早已倒下
As if not afraid I’d know, the tree has long since fallen
講袂出的舊感情
無法說出口的舊情感
Unspoken emotions from the past
嘛攏活活，浮佇水面
也還鮮活地，浮在水面上
Still alive, floating on the surface of the stream
⸻
【Verse 4】
Even so, Guitar, thy magic tone
Hath moved the tear and waked the sigh,
Hath bid the ancient torrent flow
Although its very source is dry.
【Chorus 4 ：Hokkien】
吉他的聲音嘛會予我追心痛
吉他的聲音也會讓我心痛如割
Even your guitar’s sound cuts deep into my heart
目屎流落，嘆息聲無底藏
眼淚不停流，嘆息也藏不住
Tears fall freely, sighs can’t be hidden
舊情綿綿雖然毋甘
舊情縈繞不去，雖然不願承認
Old love lingers, though I wish it wouldn’t
你彈一聲，淚嘛會無情離開
你一彈下去，淚水也會無情滑落
With one strum, the tears fall without mercy
⸻
［Spoken Hokkien]
「這條歌，是舊情人的音聲……阮欲來，唱予妳聽。」
「這首歌，是舊情人的聲音……我要唱給妳聽。」
“This song… is the voice of an old lover. I want to sing it for you.”
⸻