Autumn Leaves

This was inspired by the first line of “Autumn Leaves” as sung by Titania Eva Marie, “Autumn Leaves drifting by the Window…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ZRgUInsPk,

1 窗前金風葉催散 Urged by the golden wind, leaves outside the window are departing,
2 庭後玉露花落殘 Falling are the blossoms withering upon the jade dew in the backyard.
3 朱雀早別晚來急 The Red Bird had left early and nights come in haste,
4 玄英無情雪飛蠻 Merciless are the unbridled snowstorms of the Mysterious Warrior.

1 金風 means metal wind and refers to autumn as metal is its element. However, “golden” sounds better.

2 玉露 – another attribute of autumn because nights are cooled enough for dew to form.

3 “朱雀”, one of the four mythical creatures that represents the cardinal south. Here it refers to summer. Days are shorter in colder months.

4 玄英 is another name for winter, most probably derived from 玄武 representing the cardinal north. 玄also means black or dark. The east is represented by the green dragon, 青龍 and west by 白虎, the white tiger. Given the orthogonality of the other creatures, it should be called the “black tortoise”, 黑龜 but for cultural connotation and elegance sake, the “dark warrior”. Actually, the Deity of the North is served by two warriors, a tortoise and a snake.

Friday, December 9, 2022