怎一个愁字了得

zěn yī gè chóu zì liǎo dé

(last line of the poem 聲聲慢|声声慢[Sheng1 sheng1 Man4] by Song poet Li Qingzhao 李清照[Li3 Qing1 zhao4])

how can it be expressed in one word, "sorrow"?; how can words express such sadness?

怎

zěn

how

一

yī

one

个

gè

variant of 個|个[ge4]

愁

chóu

to worry about

字

zì

letter

了

liǎo

(of eyes) bright

得

dé

to obtain