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.
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
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