This was originally composed in 2008 even before I had this blog started and went through three updates in 2016 and 2017.
2 難守雲開抱琵琶 ‘tis difficult to wait for the clouds to disperse - thus this pipa I now carry.
3 江上孤舟銀河無 Lonely boat upon the waters but not on the Silver River,
4 莫皺眉頭妬彩霞 No longer my brows shall frown in knots to envy the colored clouds.
1 The moon is obscured by the snowstorm, representing an uncontrollable event.
2 Carrying the pipa is to marry another man, an allusion to Wang Chiao Chun being forcefully married off to a barbarian chieftain which her love, the emperor could not do anything. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Zhaojun
3 Silver River – the Milky Way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qixi_Festival
4 The obscuring colored clouds denote some other woman who got the dips on her love (metaphorically the moon is the light of her life).
In 2008, I had written only two poems and this one is entitled 漁翁夢 was written on 6th of June and thus the previous poem must have been composed sometime earlier . It went through several updates in 2015 and once in 2017. Hopefully the 2023 version is the last...
1 流星殘娟曉日初 A shooting star, a waning moon… The morning sun still anew,
2 遠山寒鐘送飛鵝 Distant mountains, cold morning bells bade adieu to geese in flight.
3 朝霧隱若蓬島現 Glimpses are the Fairy Isles wafting in and out of the morning fog,
4 畔見漁夢老醉儍 Solidly seen on the riverbank is an old drunked fool dreaming of bygone fishing days…
1 嬋娟 is a pretty girl used as a metaphor for the moon. Here it means a fading beauty.
2 It the East, traveling great distances remote temples is proof of their sincerity to have their wishes granted while in the West, churches are located conveniently close by in order to “save” souls more conveniently. In my personal opinion, they seem more interested in collecting souls.
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Penglai
Monday, January 2, 2023
1 流星殘娟曉日初 A shooting star, a waning moon… The morning sun still anew,
2 遠山寒鐘送飛鵝 Distant mountains, cold morning bells bade adieu to geese in flight.
3 朝霧隱若蓬島現 Glimpses are the Fairy Isles wafting in and out of the morning fog,
4 畔見漁夢老醉儍 Solidly seen on the riverbank is an old drunked fool dreaming of bygone fishing days…
1 嬋娟 is a pretty girl used as a metaphor for the moon. Here it means a fading beauty.
2 It the East, traveling great distances remote temples is proof of their sincerity to have their wishes granted while in the West, churches are located conveniently close by in order to “save” souls more conveniently. In my personal opinion, they seem more interested in collecting souls.
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Penglai
Monday, January 2, 2023
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