Far From The Maddening Crowd

It was getting monotonous at home and we decided to take a spin to the hydrogen gas station in Torrance to fill the car up. While sitting in the car, I looked up from the phone to pause my game and  saw a row of trees by the road swaying in the breeze.  It was like an ocean wave in green traversing down the street. The gorgeous day must have also helped in lifting my spirits…

1 風吹樹搖翠曲波 Trees rippling in the breeze like a song of green,
2 日麗懷暢蔭下坐 Gorgeous is the day and in best of spirits, I sat under the shade.
3 金杯無須玉碟伴 The golden goblet needs no jade plates for accompaniment,
4 只瞰山腰雲烟鎖 Just look down and enjoy the mountainside swathed in clouds.

3 Referring to the poet’s aloofness from politics and material pursuits. Unlike jade which can be shattered easily. Jade here refers to the spineless and corrupt nobility. Or that with only wine in hand, there's no need to have any food around - need not have unnecessary things around.

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Another Seventh Night Variation

Again from a tango doodle with the brush...

1 柳月微笑洞庭水 The crescent moon smiles softly at the waters of Lake Grotto Court,
2 船舟橫泊甜密醉 Boats and skiffs docked sweetly together like inebriated lovers of the night.
3 七夕未臨怨秋遲 Seventh Night has yet to come, fretting that autumn is always late,
4 鵲橋終聚銀河催 And finally met on the Magpie Bridge, the Milky Way invariably hastens.

1 Literally, the willow leaf shaped moon.  The lake is better known as Dong Ting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongting_Lake

3 The story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid Stars - Altair and Vega.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qixi_Festival

4 It is said that on that night, no magpie is seen because they had flown to the skies to form a bridge so that the lovers can meet.

Sunday, 25 July 2021

Thoughts Of A Dresser: Autumn Thoughts By The Dresser - Variation V

This poem was inspired on seeing a pale-yellow full moon hanging over the 101 S Freeway as I was driven home. It was not bright but a soft glow like a Chinese lantern.

1 長門落景朝暮歎 The sun is setting  at the Eternal Gate and she sighs from morn till dusk,
2 未央秋夜月色淡 Pale is the autumn moon at the Palace of Not Yet Zenith.
3 妝台寂寞塵烟伴 And dust and mists are companions to the lonely dresser,

4 渡日見淚君夢探 Days spent in tears and dreams of visits from her Lord.

1 落景: rays of the setting sun or the setting sun itself. 長門: Also known as the Long/Tall Gate or Tall Gate, the story of Emperor Han Wu Di and his first empress, Chen Ah Chiao.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Jiao

2 Wei Yang is a Han Dynastic concept of forever reaching the zenith, i.e., always in ascendance for once the zenith is reached, decay and descendance is inevitable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weiyang_Palace

4 Referring to Emperor Han Wu Ti. 君 is the adjective for 夢.  If used as a verb, then it makes no sense as "My Lord dreams of a visit".

Friday, 23 July 2021

Midnight Tryst

This came suddenly as I was practising my calligraphy by writing different characters as they popped into my mind.

月渡寒江見何人 For who does the moon cross the cold river to see?

橋頭古松看星辰 Upon the bridge head, ancient pines looking at the constellations.
夜掃橫舟醉眠香 Night sweeps across docked boats and  fragrance reeking from a drunken slumber,

黎明東破遍紅塵 The eastern skies are broken as morning spreads across the mortal realm.

Thursday, July 22, 2021

A Cicada in A Cold Night - 寒夜蟬

This poem was inspired by the words, 寒蟬 in a song but I was unable to complete the poem. A few days later, out of the blue, it was suddenly completed unintentionally.

窗外寒蟬夜叫聲 Beyond the window are the cold sounds of cicadas,
攕碎夢界不留情 Shattering borders of dreams without mercy.
莫見燭影覺淚痕 No candle light seen but traces of tears felt.
牛郎依看織女星 The Cowherd still looking towards the Spinning Maid Star.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cowherd_and_the_Weaver_Girl

Saturday, July 17, 2021

The First Time

This came to me during my usual doodling with the brush.  As usual, the first line is the inspiring line.  

This is about the story between the emperor and a courtesan.  The beauty and artistic accomplishments of Li Shishi (李師師) reached the ears of the Emperor Sung Hui Tsung.  He disguised himself as a businessman to see for himself as he could not believe the rumours. After their first meeting, the emperor was infatuated with her talents and it was said that a tunnel was built from the palace to the brothel to avoid further scandalous tongue wagging by the populace.

1 萬花樓閣千客烟 The Pavilion of Ten Thousand Flowers filled with the air of a thousand guests,
2 沉香亭苑無人前 And yet none dare entered the garden to approach the Gazebo of Deep Fragrance.
3 鶯語歌曲彩鳳勝 The mellifluent songs of orioles superior than those the colored phoenix,
4 醉杯月下金龍現 Cups a teeter in tipsiness and under the moon, revealed the golden dragon.

1 Usually the name of a brothel. The numbers here are just an exaggeration to show that there are more women than the frolicking patrons.

2 Another name for a pavilion in the pleasure gardens.

3 The language of orioles is used to describe the lovely voices of the maidens. The phoenix is the queen of birds here we are contrasting the status of the orioles and the phoenix and is synonymous with the Empress.

4 The dragon symbolizes the emperor.

Monday, July 19, 2021

The Final Journey

Another sudden inspiration as I was refining the previous poem...

1 浪平一帆天涯夢 One sailboat upon the calm waves, reached for the ends of the sky,
2 雲深三島海角同 The hazy Three Blessed Isles are cloud enshrouded at the ocean’s edge.
3 過去人生是非遠 Life's rights or wrongs are now far far away,
4 紅塵富貴手提空 Empty handed that I am now from the riches and power of the mortal realm.

1 窮 is used as a verb meaning "to have reached the end point"

2 It is believed that this is the abode of the immortals.

4 All the problems of the world emanate from wealth and power! Automatic translators would render 手提 as handphone!

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Thoughts of A Hairpin: Autumn Thoughts By The Dresser - Variation IV

The structure and idea of this variation was started on 13 Jul 2021 but I was not able to complete the poem.  Then today, out of the blue, the thoughts came flowing through...

1 寒月斜照妝台塵 Cold slanting moonbeams upon the dust of the dressing table,
2 孤寂金釵見無人 The golden hair dangler is lonely with no one around.
3 想當同步與風搖 That once in lockstep with her, swinging with the breeze,
4 面實遲疑豈敢問 Now facing reality... Truth, dare I seek? 

3 To see what a hair dangler looks like:

https://jeffinous.blogspot.com/2021/02/no-longer-favored.html

Saturday, July 17, 2021

https://jeffinous.blogspot.com/2020/07/autumn-thoughts-by-dresser.html
https://jeffinous.blogspot.com/2020/07/another-variation-of-autumn-thoughts-by.html
https://jeffinous.blogspot.com/2021/02/autumn-thoughts-by-dresser-variation-iii.html

Good To Be Doodling

Doodling frees your mind to wander off somewhere   It is in this transcendental moment your creative mind begins to form something out of nothing.  Of course what is seen here is the result of many refinements but the idea and structure are already in place.

春風百花求 Hundred flowers sought after the spring wind,
情河不斷流 Love like a river flows unceasingly.
歲月經已過 Bygone are those days,
秋菊依然候 But still autumn chrysanthemums remain.

Monday, July 12, 2021

月高夜靜思舊年 Quiet night, the moon is high and with quiet thoughts of yesteryears,
後庭花香芳草遍 Back when courtyard flowers were fragrant and grasses, aromatic.
凡塵瑣事老來煩 Now in my old age, trifle matters of the mortal realm vexes me to no end,
瓊液一壺醉入眠 So, a jug of fine wine to inebriate me into slumber.

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Shadow Thoughts

Inspiration from two photos of a friend taken of himself on a beautiful outing in San Diego...  Took me quite a while before the idea was able to be committed on paper.

1 池中近天影 Closer to the heavens is a shadow upon the pond,

2 騰雲心緒靜 Soaring through the clouds my mood is at peace.
3 離恨莫愁湖 Regrets left in the Lake of No Sorrows,
4 九霄世外迎 Welcome to the realm beyond this mortal world.

3 離恨 leaving regrets. 莫愁湖 is used to denote a place without worries or sadness. There is a real lake by this name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochou_Lake. This line can be interpreted in other ways as there are no prepositions or other syntactic sugar to help along.

4 九霄 – Ninth Heaven. It was believed that there are nine layers of heaven and by extension, the abode of heavenly immortals. There are earthly immortals who do not live in heaven but on the Immortal Isles in the Eastern Ocean. Thus, they are not directly controlled by Heaven and be less restrictive in their comings and goings. For example, unless it is on official business, visitation to the mortal realm is strictly forbidden.  There are many stories of them breaking this law and be punished severely.  It is now used to mean the highest or the furthest of reaches.  

Sunday, June 06, 2021
Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Penmanship And Inspiration

In using a brush or a pen, each stroke to the written word is intimately entwined with the spirit of the writer. Each curve, each flourish or each tick describes the physical motion by the current state of the mind. As ink shapes forms on the paper the concentrating mind begins to free the constraints of the wandering spirit. It is at this twilight moment when inspiration is born suddenly and ideas flow into the consciousness. This poem resulted when I was practising my brushstrokes on another poem.  The first line just popped into my head.

剪燕騰空東南飛 Scissors-like swallows flying towards the south east,
寂寞苑庭破竹籬 Lonely courtyard and a broken bamboo fence.
莫愁花香無伴侶 Fret not over that the companionless fragrance of the flowers,
天有明月相思寄 There's the bright moon to send her regards.

Thursday, July 8, 2021

Ocean Inspirations

 

These two poems were inspired by the ocean views in San Pedro on a lovely sunny afternoon...

This one is from the Royal Palms Park, the site of the former Royal Palms Hotel.

綿綿濤音不絕歌 The unceasing sounds of the singing tide,
潮潮莫愁岸上破 Wave upon wave crashing the shores without fret.
海鷗飛影翔青天 fleeting shadows of seagulls soaring the blue sky,
逍遙人生景前過 Life passes before this vista, nary a care be.

And finally, this is from the Korean Friendship Bell Park...

1 東海含烟閣 Cloud Imbibing Pavilion in the Eastern Ocean,
2 西畔孤亭樂 Solitary joy on the Terrace by the Western bank.
3 凡塵晴天和 A harmonious sunny day in the mortal realm,
4 人生醉銀幕 Life’s so much better than fantasy.

1 It is believed that the three Immortal Isles are located in the Eastern Ocean. Cloud Imbibing is the name of the Pavilion. 含 means contained in the mouth without chewing. This line refers to clouds obscuring the ocean on the right. A stretch of imagining them to be the buildings in the Immortal Isles.

3 晴 has the same sound as 情 – love, thus a sunny day – a day in love

4 The silver screen of the movies. A direct translation from English. It can also be interpreted as art imitates life.

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Story of Liu Lang - 劉郎

It is high time for a poem about the story of Liu Lang which I had been used as an allusion to some of my poems.  Took me quite a number of days to put it into the right language, how to declutter the details etc.

01 故徑紫霞初 Purple mists are starting to engulf the old familiar path,
02 背柴路歸錯 Firewood on my back, I was lost in finding my way home.
03 愰然洞府見 When suddenly a grotto mansion was came into sight,
04 求宿此夜過 And begged lodging for the night.

05 門開丫鬟引 The door opened and a maid led me in,
06 主人賽嫦娥 Mistress of the place, more beautiful than the goddess of the moon.
07 魂遊九霄外 Further than the Nine Heavens, my soul was whisked away,
08 如夢醉瑳瑳 Like a dream, smiling silly in a drunken dream.

09 但愁一朝到 Alas, one fateful morning came a knocking,
10 問君事如何 Asking my fretful husband what the matter was.
11 只為憶鄉歎 “It’s only because I was longing for my home”,
12 默許暗淚多 Acquiesced in silence, my hidden tears were a plenty.

13 烟飛百年去 The mists had cleared and a hundred years had passed,
14 水流無回波 Flowing waters where none can surge backwards.
15 追向舊道還 Quickly I sought to return whence I came on the old path,
16 雲盡散南柯 Alas the clouds had dispersed and so is the Dream of the Southern Bough.

01 Where there are purplish mists, a fairyland is bound to be nearby.

02 This line tells us that he is a woodcutter.

03 Grotto mansion is a either a house built inside a grotto or a euphemism where immortals live.

04 It was common for travelers to ask for a lodging as there were no hotels and inns of today.

05 Actually a servant girl.

06 The master of the place would often welcome the traveler as a matter of courtesy and to satisfy his curiosity. In this case, the owner is a young lady.

07 The woodcutter was obviously smitten by her beauty.

08 This is an elegant way of skipping over the details. Obviously, I am sure it is by design on the part of the lady. After all, fairy grottos don’t appear out of nowhere.

09 Obviously a long time had ensued. Was it he had grew tired of her? Was it as if he had awakened from his drunken state?

10 The fairy wife had to know the reason for his sadness. I am sure she must know that their destiny is coming to an end. She does not want to part but Heaven’s will cannot be denied and yet cannot tell him of the real reason for her tears.

13 The woodcutter by now had realized what had happened, a short time in fairyland is equivalent to a hundred years in the mortal world.

14 Time can only go forward. Rivers cannot flow back to their sources.

15 Retracing his steps back to his fairy wife but could not find the place.

16 The Dream of the Southern Bough is another story about a life long experience in a dream to show that everything is ethereal and can never last.

https://jeffinous.blogspot.com/2011/02/dream-of-southern-bough-chinese-antz.html

Wednesday June 30, 2021

Inebriating The Flower's Soul - 醉花魂

This came about as I was doodling on my Chinese brush writing after hearing the words, "碎花魂" in this song, 清宮怨 from the 1975 HK TV series, 清宮殘夢.  Such a long time ago. Each night I would rush home or to Junior's house to watch it on TV. It was a time of joy, fresh out of the damn National Service and to look forward to next year's journey of a new beginning...

人間解語花, 

帝苑並頭蓮, 

合歡雨露恩, 

暗許白頭願, 

風雨暴碎花魂… 

1 金杯瓊液醉花魂 Golden Goblets, exquisite wine inebriates the beauty,
2 樓高月色更迷人 Upon the terrace high, the moon looks even lovelier.
3 身無簫音何用有 Alas, of what use there is without the sound of the flute?
4 此夜忽聞亂心神 When suddenly tonight, it came to entangle the feelings of the heart.

1 It is said that liquor made from the Chinese White Jade flower, Virburnum macrocephalum f. ketekeeri makes the best wine.

3 This alludes to the story of 弄玉, the apple of the Duke Mu of the Chin State.    She also loves to play the flute.  One night, as she played on the flute to express her feelings, she heard a distant sound of anothe

r flute as if answering to her playing.  She declared to the father that she would marry the person who understood her through music.  The Duke finally found the mystery person and they were married. A high tower was built for them to enjoy their marital bliss.  After many years, through the husband, her flute playing skills had improved so much that when the played together, phoenixes would fly down from the heavens to hear their playing.  One day, two dragons descended and the mounted on them and flew away into the immortal realm.

Sunday, July 4, 2021

Inspired Themes

 
These three poems were inspired from the works of others.  My brain was running out of ideas and I needed to keep my mental exercises up.

The poem that started it was a question posted in the Chinese Poetry Group in Facebook but I do not see the question and I assume that Sophina Kuan was asking for pointers.

細雨春風飄心間 Tender rain and spring mirth waft my heart，
問君可曾動心弦 Hath thou tenderness ever felt?
若君不負相思意 Love when not spurned
一股暖流涌心田 Like gushs warms the heart

David Fang’s:                        Sii Ming Yiu’s

雨春風二月天，                  細雨春風二月天，
幾番遙望動心弦。              問君可曾動心弦.
惟期不負相思意，              而今不負相思意,
倩影今宵入我眠                  一股清流暖福田

My version:

細雨春風杏花蔭 Gentle rain in spring and under the canopy of apricot blossoms,
有誰何曾不動心 Hast no heart a fluttered [by this romantic scene ]?
若君莫負妾思意 And if milord reject not the thoughts of this maid's
與同天樂情海深 Togetherness in heavenly delights and a love deep as the ocean.

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Then from this original, I created another one that is not so salacious.

1 二月風和不見霜 No frost in the warm breeze of the second month,

2 十里懷情杏花翔 Lingering thoughts of swaying apricot blossoms for ten miles.
3 赴京上考折桂枝 To the capital for the imperial exams, the number one scholar I need be,
4 徘徊誤時豈敢嘗 Dare I putter and waddle in enjoyment and miss my exam date!

1 Must be an unusually warm month, for there are times, remnants of winter can still be around.

2 Literally, “For ten miles, apricot blossoms are flying”. The swaying on the branches makes them look like they are in flight.

3 The imperial exams are the final hurdle a candidate must overcome to see if they are successful or not. Only the top three will get the top official posts. These exams take place every three years and there is no limit how times a candidate can take. To break the Osmanthus bough means becoming the number one scholar, 壯元. Passing the examinations is the only way one can escape from the social order that one was born into.

4. Literally, “pacing back and forth, and time may be missed. How can I dare take a taste?” On a deeper level of understanding, this poem is not about enjoying the scenery but to refrain from partaking the various temptations encountered on the way!

Thursday, June 24, 2021

Lament of Wang Chao Chun - 昭君怨

 
This just suddenly jumped out of my mind as I listened to the song of the same name sung by 楊燕 who had the best rendition although the fast part was way too fast for the song. Most probably she did it to show off her skills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtlMJ3X3_70

1 琵琶三疊回首看 Thrice the pipa played and turning back for a look,
2 昭君路長風吹寒 Such is a long arduous journey for Wang Chao Chun.
3 沙雁北飛故鄉南 The grey anser flies north while home is far in the south,
4 今生恩情來世望 Whatever affection we may have, let’s hope for it in the next lifey.

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Zhaojun

3 literally, “the sand anser” because it lives on sandbars of rivers. They are migratory birds which can be seen flying through the western desert regions as if leaving their homeland in China. See also #2 for a story relating to the ansers and Wang Chao Chun.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greylag_goose

Ansers usually refer to relationships between husband & wife or lovers.

4 All kinds of relationships – familial, friends, man and woman or whatever. A known world is left behind for one that is unknown.

Tuesday, June 29, 2021