Bright Moon
Oct. 1st, 2001 05:12 amTonight must have been the full moon. When it rose, it seemed a bit flat on one side, but as the night passed, it came to look fully round. Now it is settling into the pines whose shadows fall across the lawn, obscuring the pale green in deep black. I am reminded of this poem from the T'ang dynasty:
The Candle Casts Dark Shadows
by Li Shang Yin
The candle casts dark shadows
On the mother of pearl screen.
Slowly, slowly, the Milky Way
Goes down the sky. The stars go out.
Girl in the moon, are you sorry
You stole the herb of immortality,
And night after night have to
Watch over the distant, emerald
Sea and the boundless jeweled sky?
The Candle Casts Dark Shadows
by Li Shang Yin
The candle casts dark shadows
On the mother of pearl screen.
Slowly, slowly, the Milky Way
Goes down the sky. The stars go out.
Girl in the moon, are you sorry
You stole the herb of immortality,
And night after night have to
Watch over the distant, emerald
Sea and the boundless jeweled sky?