This poem was mainly inspired by Alfred Hause's Tango version of When Will My Love Return? (何日君再來, Ho
Rin Chin Sai Rai), a very popular Chinese song in Pre-War Japan. It is also that this version that I was
introduced to as a teenager. I even once had
the vinyl album!
There are other elements of the poem on which I had drawn from
Chinese mythology but the main theme is of course from the anime, Your Name? 君の名は Kimi No Namae Wa
道上兩傍櫻花朝 On both sides of the path are cherry
blooms I wouldst view,
細雨霏滴行人少 Drizzling drips of rain, passersby are
so few.
屐步冉傳來音報 Sounds of click-clacking clogs slowly
caught my attention,
烟雲漸退露古橋 Just as the mists steadily receding, an ancient bridge revealed.
紫藤着物青傘持 Clad in a kimono of wisteria design
and a blue parasol held,
玉顏桃腮帶隱笑 Of jade white complexion and peach bloom cheeks, secret smiles in
hiding.
二者如舟夜水渡 Alas, the two of us are like ships
passing each other in the night,
夢中唯作比翼鳥1Only in dreams, inseparable lovebirds that we were meant to be.
月老2仙氣來風起With a divine breath blown from the Old-Man-Of-The-Moon, a gust of
wind rose,
青傘撲向我身邀 Towards me that blue parasol came, my body wouldst most gladly intercept.
借機送還貴稱甚3An opportunity presented in returning, I asked for thy name,
鶯語一聲含情謝4In a most sonorous
tenderness, a word of thanks uttered.
南柯5天弄有心人,Fie! fie! Heaven tricketh those who dreams of the Southern Bough.
超悅騰飛外九霄. In super euphoria,
my soul had flown beyond the Nine Heavens,
忽聞霹靂震夢破6,Right then a sudden
thunderous clap broke my reverie,
紫藤影踪再莫曉. Nary a trace of the purple wisteria seen.
青澀無知從何繼, Young and green, I knoweth not how to continue after thanking you,
欲顧眼前若有表. I yearned to turn my head around to see all that before me hast interest,
却羞言吐芳心語,
And yet too embarrassing 'tis for me to pour out my heartfelt
words to thee,
君識石立就此了. But thou who wouldst
just stand like a statue and thus nothing more.
1. In Chinese Mythology, these birds has
only one wing. In order to fly, two
birds must be connected and fly as one.
So it is synonymous as lovers.
Another mythical creature is the one sided fish in which two are needed
to swim. These are called 鰜鰈. The modern meaning is "plice" and name for other kinds
of flat fishes.
2. The Old-Man-In-The-Moon controls the
destiny of lovers. When a person is
born, an invisible red thread is tied to its toe and the other end to his or
her beloved. Whether separated by time
or distance, they will find each other in the end. However, there are times, when
this string can be severed...
3. The use of the umbrella as an excuse
for getting to know each other is from the Madame White Snake in which the
heroine uses the borrowed umbrella during a "chance" meeting in the
rain to entice the hero in coming to her place - a test if he has interest in
her.
4. 謝 can also mean her last name. This is such a delicious pun that I rather violate the rhyming rules than not to use it.
6. This alludes to The Painted Wall, 畫壁, a story from Strange Tales of a Chinese Studio, 聊齋 where a visiting scholar to a temple went into
a wall mural of fairies and lived a life with the goddess whom he fell in love
when he first gazed upon her picture.
One day, a War God came and the scholar was told to hide under the bed
until he was gone. After what seemed
many hours had gone by, there was a thunderous clap and a voice telling him
that it was time for him to leave. It
was the old Abbot knocking on the wall.
Suddenly the scholar found himself outside of the mural once more and
upon the mural, the Goddess had now donned on the coiffure of a married woman.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
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