Saturday, January 20, 2024

Asia Trip 2023 Inspiration II - A Lute Melody For One



While having breakfast at the Hilton Hua Hin Executive Lounge, I had an inspiration on this poem… refined during the trip back to Bangkok and completed in Le Meridien...

1 明月散盡夜黑空
The bright moon dispels the darkness of the sky,
2 荷塘水冷花去紅 Lotus pond waters are cold now that the red had faded from its blossoms.
3 燭搖影纏難入眠 ‘tis difficult to sleep with annoying shadows from the candle,
4 琵琶一曲高樓夢 One melody from the lute for a dream in the tall tower.

1 The bright moon represents the vibrancy of youth. The dark represents the no longer youthful. In other words, the person had been replaced by someone new.

2 The coldness not the waters infer to the ardor of the man’s heart now that the once desired object is no longer young.

4 This line hints that either the lady in question is the unattractive wife of some wealthy person or that she is no longer a popular and desirable courtesan. This is because brothels are usually multi-storied buildings.

Saturday, November 11, 2023

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