Autumn Nights

My mind wandered off to a literary dream as I was listening to some nondescript background music. Unconsciously, I began to write the characters on the paper…

1 夏色盡退秋霄漢 Faded are the colors of summer and the sky is now of autumn,
2 楓葉萬紅菊花黄 Endless reds of maple leaves and chrysanthemums in yellow.
3 日速夜長夢更多 Days are fast and nights a slow but even longer are fretful dreams,
4 月無彩霞寂寞寒 Alas, the lonely moon is cold without colored clouds for a wrap.

1 霄漢 actually means the galaxy/universe and the Milky Way. It is now generally to mean “the heavens, skies”

2 Literally, “ten thousand red”. Autumn is the season when chrysanthemums begin to bloom.

3 夜長夢多has a negative connotation as sleep is punctuated by fretful dreams.

4 The author must have felt sorry for the moon as he is draped in warm clothing.

Wednesday, August 25, 2021