Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

The line, 水上明月一道光 just floated into my mind. Then when I started to write it down with a brush, I felt that the poem was incomplete as a story. So, while waiting for my appointment for a blood test, I came up with a second quatrain.

1 水上明月幾度光 How bright can the moonlight upon the waters be?
2 山中暗林對天望 From a darkened mountain forest, looking up to the heavens,
3 獨酌生涯舉杯歎 Alone I imbue life but I lifted the cup in sighs.
4 難邀嫦娥下凡降 Difficult it is to invite the lunar Goddess to descend for a drink.

5 如烟朝暮去匆匆 Like mists, mornings and dusks are fleeing too quickly,
6 春舊紅花秋菊黄 Springs of old are flowers if red and autumn chrysanthemums in yellow.
7 歲月長流情疏病 Time flows unceasingly and passions become sparse - an illness too often begotten,
8 老態何得渡日狂 How can days be lived vivaciously with infirmities of the aged?

4 Chang-Er, the goddess of the moon. “to drink with me” is not in the original text but is inferred in the 3rd line.

6 Chrysanthemum blooms in autumn and is used to represent the season. This line means that in every season, there will be flowers in bloom and hence beauty is found at any time.

8 Because of ailments in old age, life can no longer enjoyed vivaciously when one is young. This line hints that the author may not have wine in his cup but tea if the poem is interpreted that the poet is now in his old age. Another interpretation is that poem is trying to conject what the future is like. 

To answer the title's question: The flowers are always there but in the eyes of the beholder, the physical pains and aches had banished them.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Eternal Regrets

The first line just came into my mind and could not complete the poem until I thought of presenting another angle from Li Shang Yin’s, “… 嫦娥應悔偷靈藥, 碧海青天夜夜心”

1 隱若蓬萊隱若夢 To and fro, came the Blessed Isles wafting like a dream drifting in and out,
2 昔日仙子昔日逢 Once upon a fairy maid, once upon met.
3 劉郎應悔賢逆聽 Liu Lang ought to be remorseful for rejecting the words of wise,
4 燭影深動夜夜重 Heavy are the nights as candle shadows flickered.

3 Liu Lang was a woodcutter who was lost in a forest. He came upon a cave and met a fairy maid. They fell in love. After six months into the marriage, he became homesick and begged to take leave but his fairy wife talked him out of it. Another year passed and he could bear no more. Off he went back to his hometown to find that everything had changed and a few generations had passed.

4 Depending on how重 is pronounce, it can mean either be heavy or recurring. Both meanings are applicable. Also, 深 is used as a pun for 心 since both have the same pronunciation.

Saturday, August 13, 2022

No Escape

1 遍湖船泊波水平 Across the lake are boats anchored in the water’s calm,
2 安靜無風月照明 Secured safely under a windless night, the moon seems brighter.
3 入林又恐國憂危 Desiring retirement from officialdom, I still fret over the country’s future safety,
4 生中難脱一字情 All because I am unable to escape from this single word known as sentiment.

1 Boats represent the populace and the calmness of the waters represents the peace of the land.

2 Wind represents turbulence of the world, such as wars stirring up trouble. The moon seems brighter because of its reflection in the calm waters.

3 入林 – “entering the forest” means retirement from officialdom in pursuit of scholarly pleasures. The idea of this line was lifted from a poem but couldn’t recall it. A literal translation could be “Entering the forest and yet worrying and fearing dangers lying in wait for the country”.

4 It is difficult to encompass all the subtle meanings of 情 in a short translation. Loyalty, obligation, duty, responsibility etc. are the handmaidens to this word or rather to this character.

Saturday, August 6, 2022