A World No Longer Recognized

1 油燈一盞書萬卷 One oil lamp and still ten-thousand books to be read,
2 窗前無月何時圓 There’s no moon before the window - when will it be full again?
3 血雨風雲山河改 The bloodbath turbulence had changed the landscape of the empire,
4 紅塵莫識難再戀 ’tis difficult to linger in a world that is no longer recognized

1 In the old days, poor scholars used the light of the moon to study at night. Oil lamps were used by the poor as wax candles were deemed too expensive.

2 Originally, I used 完 to give some ambiguity whether the oil lamp had burnt out or that moonless nights had come to an end. In using 圓, round, I can have my cake and eat it too as both characters sound the same.

3 Literally, “blood rain”, “wind and clouds”, “mountains and rivers” for “carnage”, “uncertainty” and “empire”

4 Literally, “red dust” a Buddhist term for the mundane world. 戀 does not mean “love” but “to be attached”.

The inspiration for this poem came from two sources…

I was translating a Du Fu poem posted by a member from Facebook’s Chinese Poetry Group,

牛羊下來久 Long had the cattle and goats been back from the hills,
各已閉柴門 And each and every pen had been closed.
風月自清夜 The wind is crisp, the moon is bright, so naturally, a beautiful night.
江山非故園 Alas, the rivers and mountains are not of my hometown.

石泉流暗壁 The brook flowing over the stones, from the half hidden cliffs,
草露滴秋根 As dew drips into the roots of autumn grasses.
頭白燈明裏 How white my hair is under the oil lamp light,
何須花燼繁 So why the need to have the wick blooming to remind of my youth.

1. The first two lines of each stanza describes the physical passage of time in nature and the next two, of time passing in age.

2. Oil lamps are used by the poor for lighting. Candles were deemed too expensive. Dried stems from Juncus effusus are used as wicks. Sometimes, the wick will "bloom" into a knot, looking like a flower when the flame is burning low. On rare occasions, there will be flame sparking. This is seen as a good sign.

I was commenting on the oil lamp my maternal grandmother used for the family altar. It was similar in color and shape to the photo below but is far simpler because it was a two-piece instead of a solid one-piece. The small white pottery sauce can be removed.

I could not find the right theme to complete the poem until I got the idea from the previous poem. Instead of a person from the palace, how about from the angle of a poor scholar who could no longer journey to the capital to take the imperial exams.