The past like smoke - she only softly sighed, 'flowing water, fallen petals, spring too is gone.'
Tips
history
From 李煜《浪淘沙·帘外雨潺潺》(Li Yu, last ruler of Southern Tang, composed in captivity in Kaifeng under the Song, ~976-978 CE): 帘外雨潺潺，春意阑珊。罗衾不耐五更寒。梦里不知身是客，一晌贪欢。独自莫凭栏！无限江山，别时容易见时难。流水落花春去也，天上人间 (Beyond the curtain, rain patters; spring is all but spent... Do not lean alone on the railing! Boundless rivers and hills - parting so easy, meeting so hard. Flowing water, fallen petals, spring too is gone - heaven above, the mortal world). Soon after this cí Li Yu was poisoned on Song Taizong's order.
usage
Always paired with 天上人间 as the final two clauses. 也 here is a classical exclamatory final particle ('indeed / alas'), NOT the modern 'also.' The phrase is quoted for any irrecoverable loss - not only literal spring.
