No light within the court, and moss climbs the stairs;
I move my couch, sit sprawled beneath the courtyard ash.
Cool clouds across the water, not likely it will rain;
Thin lightning leans against the mountain, no thunder yet.
In willows’ shade I watch paired magpies settle;
To bamboos’ depths from time to time come fireflies.
This great official feels drier than Hsiang-ju;
To quench that thirst, would I be thinking only of a single cup of dew?
translated by J.P. Seaton
19th Century Chinese poetry
Moored at Maple Bridge by Ching An
Frost white across the river, waters reaching toward the sky.
All I’d hoped for’s lost in autumn’s darkening.
I cannot sleep, a man adrift, a thousand miles
alone, among the reed flowers: but the moonlight fills the boat.
translated J.P. Seaton
from To the Tune “The River Is Red” by Ch’iu Chin
And one day, all under heaven
Will see beautiful free women,
Blooming like fields of flowers,
And bearing brilliant and noble human beings.
translted by Kenneth Reroth & Ling Chung
Tune: Yü mei-jen Title: The (New) Moon on the Night of the Third of the Month by Chiang Ch’un-lin
An icy scar in the afterglow sends off the setting sun;
A hook so tiny as to startle fishes from their dreams,
Passionate souls would still say it’s perfect and round;
Just the barest hint of a woman’s brow
And suddenly it’s the Goddess of the Moon!
Enveloping the steps, the night air as thin as mist;
Flowers’ shadows lightly traced on the curtain.
I lean against the railing, no need to sleep late.
Just gazing up into the yellow dusk–
One glimpse of her overwhelms me with longing.
translated by Irving Lo
from Tune: Yang-chou man (A Slow Song of Yangchow) Title: On 19 December 1853, the (Taiping) Rebels Are Approaching the Capital. Upon Hearing of the Recovery of Yangchow by Government Troops by Chiang Ch’un-lin
But what avails the common folk?
Under a dark moon, fireflies are drifting aimlessly;
The west wind sobs
Amidst ghost fires here and there.
But it hurts even more as I look toward the south:
Across the river, innumerable green-peaked hills!
translated by Irving Lo
Leonard Durso 