29.

Moonrise

To the tune of ‘Prelude to the Song of Six States’

Sunset. Red glow licks

the tower top.

A star or two

twinkles now

in the blue. 5

Her dear face levitating

up from the East,

floating smooth and rounded as an oeil de sorcière,

her slow ascent

pushing the halo of the sun below the rim. 10

Brightly, clearly,

glittering, translucent,

bearding the buffeting west wind,

she deigns to shed her social standing

and drops straight through the lattice grate 15

into the cell to tell the old and ailing lag:

‘The best time of the year,

Moon Palace night tonight!’

See how time flies,

it’s already harvest month! 20

When I was young,

the autumn night as if eternal,

I shared my rapturous delight

with a beautiful young girl.

Few voices could be heard, 25

the evening breezes had died down,

window screens were raised,

the view was wrapped in haze.

Cakes were laid out on tiny stands,

bright lanterns decked with festive frill, 30

and bitter tea was sipped.

At the corner of the rail,

bathed in the clear moon’s light,

two hearts were joined.

We vied to call up lines of verse 35

to limn its lovely curvature,

gambling gaily on our bowls of tea.

Today, I grieve to see the moon as ever round,

while human affairs are like a rainbow –

gone in a trice! 40

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‘To the tune of’: Originally a drum song popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties.

Line 14: Quoting a line attributed to Emperor Jianwen of Liang (503–551).

Line 18: The Moon (or Guanghan) Palace is the home of the Goddess of the Moon.

Line 22: This phrase is said to have first appeared in a poem in Chinese by Heo Nanseolheon (1563–1589), born Heo Chohui, a prominent Korean woman poet of Korea’s mid-Joseon dynasty.

Line 25: Echoing a line in the poem ‘Deer Park’ by Wang Wei.