The Heartless Moon

In my dream, I saw this line, 黑夜明月照池塘 - In the dark of the night, the moon shines over a pond. Started on the poem when I woke up.  Many changes were made but the third line stumped for a day or so. First, it didn't go with the flow and the reading sounded awkward.  Then in a state of semi-consciousness as my mind wandered off somewhere as I took my daily walk, the solution floated into my mind's eye like a dancing dandelion.

1 秋時明月照池塘 The moon of autumn shines over the pond,
2 水中寒宮冷相望 And the Cold Palace in the water stares in mutual coldness.
3 夜啼鶯聲愁更添 The sound of the night cawing oriole makes it even more sorrowful,
4 銀光情薄映花黄 And the silvery light of no feeling makes the flowers look so tallow.

2 Another euphemism of the moon since Chang-Er lives by herself in the lunar palace.

4 literally, “flowers reflected in yellow”

Monday, March 21, 2022