Autumn’s cold, the window wide open.
A tilted moon fills the room with light.
It’s midnight, and nothing need be said:
just two smiles behind a gauze curtain.
translated by David Hinton
the seasons
from Lady Midnight Songs of the Four Seasons: Autumn 4
Autumn’s chill infuses crystalline wind.
A moon drifts heaven’s exquisite depths,
radiant. Lovely women ready winter robes,
ten thousand sticks beating frozen stone.
translated by David Hinton
NOTE: using sticks to beat clothing on special stones in autumn was a ritual women had to show longing for lovers taken far off to war.
from Lady Midnight Songs of the Four Seasons: Autumn 3
Autumn night at the open window
makes bed-curtains float and sway.
I gaze up at the bright moon, send
such love a thousand radiant miles.
translated by David Hinton
from Lady Midnight Songs of the Four Seasons: Autumn 2
Wild geese set out for their southlands,
and city-bred swallows wing northward.
If you’ve lost your way, my far-off love,
just follow the autumn wind back home.
translated by David Hinton
