Lǎo péngyǒu yí gè gè líkāi, wú kě nài hé huā luò qù, sì céng xiāngshí yàn guī lái.
Old friends depart one by one — helplessly the flowers fall, and the swallows, seeming familiar, return.
Tips
history
From Yan Shu's (晏殊) Song ci 《浣溪沙》: 无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来。小园香径独徘徊。 — 'Helpless, the flowers fall away; seeming familiar, the swallows return. Alone I pace the fragrant garden path.' The couplet is one of the most admired in Song lyric for capturing the ambivalence of change.
usage
Almost always cited as a couplet with 似曾相识燕归来. 无可奈何 alone is a common chengyu meaning 'helpless / having no choice.' Used in literary writing about loss, aging, and inevitable change.
