Poetic Moon

(For many people, the full moon is the symbol of family reunion, brightness, purity and goodness. This has inspired many of the great poets from ancient times till today. )

First we’ll hear a poem devoted to the moon festival and written by a leading Northern Song Dynasty poet Su Shi, also known as Su Dongpo. Su Shi’s poetry is fresh and original, and its vividness, rich imagery and boldness of vision are features, which distinguish his prose.

On the night of the moon festival in the year 1076, the author drank happily till dawn in the bright moonlight and wrote the following lines while thinking of his brother far away. Here’s Zhang Jiaping to read the poem for you.

Bright moon, when was your birth?

Wine cup in hand, I ask the deep blue sky:

Not knowing what year it is tonight

In those celestial palaces on high.

I long to fly back on the wind,

Yet, dread those crystal towers, those courts of jade,

Freezing to death among those icy heights!

Instead I rise to dance with my pale shadow;

Better off, after all, in the world of men.

Rounding the red pavilion,

Stooping to look through gauze widows,

She shines on the sleepless.

The moon should know no sadness;

Why, then, is she always full when dear ones are parted?

For men the grief of parting, joy of reunion,

Just as the moon wanes and waxes, is bright or dim:

Always some flaw---and so it has been since of old,

My one wish for you, then, is long life

And a share in this loveliness far, far away!

Another celebrated poet of the Tang Dynasty was Du Fu. He wrote the following poem entitled “One Moonlit Night” in which he expresses his feelings of homesickness.

On this moonlight night in Fuzhou

She will be watching in her room alone;

Far away, my heart aches for our children,

Too young to remember Chang’an

Her cloudy hair will be damp in the fragrant mist,

Her jade-white arms cold in the limpid light;

When shall we lean together by gauze curtains,

Side by side beneath the moon, all our tears dried?

Here are two poems, which eulogize the moon, written by Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei. The first is entitled “The Bamboo Lodge”. It’s short, yet vivid. It describes the bright moon rising to accompany the author in the deep woods.

Seated alone by shadowy bamboo

I strum my lyre and laugh aloud;

None knows that I am here, deep in the woods;

Only the bright moon comes to shine on me.

Here’s Wang Wei’s second poem describing the beautiful scene of the rising moon awakening the mountain birds. It’s entitled “The Gully of Twittering Birds”

Idly I watch the cassia petals fall;

Silent the night and empty the spring hills;

The rising moon startles the mountain birds

Which twitter fitfully in the spring gully.

The poet Li Bai is one of the greatest names in Chinese literature. His poetry frequently contains strong elements of fantasy and the supernatural, it’s known for its lyrical, innovative imagery and beautiful language. Several of his poems use the moon to express his feelings. Here’s one entitled “ Thoughts in the Silent Night”

Beside my bed a pool of light—

Is it hoarfrost on the ground?

I lift my eyes and see the moon,

I bend my head and think of home.

Now, let’s enjoy another of Li Bai’s poems in which he personifies the moon. It’s entitled “Drinking Alone by Moonlight”

Among the flowers a pot of wine,

I drink alone; no friend is by.

I raise my cup, invite the moon,

And my shadow; now we are three.

But the moon knows nothing of drinking,

And my shadow only apes my doings;

Yet moon and shadow shall be my company.

Spring is the time to have fun.

I sing, the moon lingers,

I dance, my shadow tangles,

While I’m still sober, we’re gay together,

When I get drunk, we go our different ways.

We pledge a friendship no mortals know,

And swear to meet on heaven’s Silver River.

Here’s another poem by Li Bai, which personifies the moon. It’s entitled “Reflections on the Moon While Drinking.” Moon and wine have often been associated together, and have inspired the pens of many ancient poets.

When did the moon first appear in the sky?

I stop drinking to pose this question.

The moon is beyond the reach of man,

Yet it follows wherever you go.

Like a bright mirror high above crimson palaces;

The green mist disperses revealing its splendor.

At night we see it rising above the ocean;

At dawn we know not where it goes among the clouds.

Year after year the white hare pounds medicine;

Who is there to keep the lonely Chang E company/

People today cannot see the moon of ages past;

Yet the moon today has shone on our ancestors.

People pass away like a flowing stream;

Yet all have seen the moon like this.

My only wish singing and drinking wine

Is to see the moonlight in my golden goblet.

The following is a poem from Wang Anshi, who uses the moon as a leitmotif. This particular poem was written out of a deep sense of nostalgia.

Parted by a single stream, Jingkou and Guazhou;

Beyond a few hills, Mount Zhongoshan;

Green in the spring wind the south bank of the Yangtze;

When will the bright moon light my journey home?