Two Versions of Flower Moon

This was inspired by an evening jog. I saw an autumnal bright silvery full moon shining over a thin layer of purple mists and underneath it was the clear blue sky. It was very beautiful. Unfortunately, I did not have my cell phone with me to take a picture. Later, I found out that this evening was the super flower moon of 2020… 

The full moon in May is known as the Flower Moon because spring flowers start to bloom.

Version I

1.蓬萊玉蟾紫霞烟 Over the Immortal Isles, the Jade Toad in misty purple,
2.瑤池黃昏青鳥現 And in the twilight of the Jasper Pools, blue birds appear.
3.待盡鬱愁燭影真 The melancholy candle shadow in wait is the only thing of real,
4.歸時針刺三秋獻 When thou hast returned, embroidery of three autumns presented.

5.風擎鵲橋一意強 Of one mind, the wind braces the Magpie Bridge,
6.雨打鳳台兩心堅 Pounding rain upon the Phoenix Terrace, two unassailable hearts beat.
7.共同醉夢芙蓉帳 A same inebriated dream still shared under the hibiscus canopy,
8.千緒萬情從何言 Moods of a thousand, emotions a myriad of whence I begin?

1. One of the isles on the Eastern Ocean where immortals made their abode. The three-legged lunar toad symbolizes the moon. Purple mists is a sign of fairness in a place.

2. The Jasper Pools are believed to be in Mt. Kunlun where the Queen Mother of the West resides. Her messengers are the blue birds. Twilight here does not mean dusk, but the demise of the immortal abode.

4. Three autumns – three years or many years.

5. Once a year on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, magpies disappear from the earth to form a bridge so that the ill-fated romance of the Cowherd and the Spinning can cross the Milky Way for their once a year reunion.

6a. From the lines of Li Po’s poem,

鳳凰台上鳳凰遊,  Upon the Phoenix Terrace, Phoenixes come and go,
鳳去台空江自流. Gone are the phoenixes, the Terrance empty but the river still in flow. 

b. During the Age of Warring States, the favorite daughter of the Duke of Chin declared to her father that she would marry the one whom she heard his flute playing one night from a nearby mountain and did a duet with him on her flute. When he was located, they were married and the father built for them the Phoenix Terrace as his flute skills were so great that birds come a flocking.
    
After ten happy years, under his tutelage, she became his equal. One day, they played so beautifully together that a pair of phoenixes descended. They mounted on them and flew away as immortals. Obviously, this is not the same Terrace that Li Po had ascended to compose his poem as a millennia had elapsed.

7. High quality bed curtains dyed with hibiscus flowers. In one story, it implies the bedroom curtains are dotted with the deflowered blood droplets of his victims or conquests. 

Version II

During one of the earlier revisions of the poem, 白兔 was used in the first line to symbolize the moon. 兔 has the same pronunciation as 吐 and so it was a challenge for me to see how the poem changes and so the second version is the result.

蓬萊白吐紫霞烟 Purple mists from the Immortal Isles spewed in vain,
瑤池黃謝青鳥現 Jasper Pools withering yellow for the blue birds’ appearance.
待盡鬱愁無音信 Of news I strained in melancholy wait,
已隔三秋君莫見 Already three autumns had passed, nary a glimpse of thee.

鵲橋二仙七夕逢 Upon the Magpie Bridge, the Twin Fairies on the Seventh night in reunion,
鳳台空影一心堅 Shadows of an empty Phoenix Terrace, one heart beats in conviction.
共同醉夢芙蓉帳 A same inebriated dream still shared under the hibiscus canopy,
千意萬情從何言 Thoughts of a thousand, emotions a myriad of whence I begin?

Wednesday, May 06, 2020