English Rendering
Her candle-light is silvery on her chill bright screen.
Her little silk fan is for fireflies....
She lies watching her staircase cold in the moon,
And two stars parted by the River of Heaven.
In the Autumn Night
- Poetry of Du Mu
《秋夕》
Original Text (中文原文)
银烛秋光冷画屏，轻罗小扇扑流萤。
天阶夜色凉如水，卧看牵牛织女星。
Analysis & Context
Seven-character-quatrain
Through employing chilly diction and imagery, Du Mu creates an aura of loneliness. It can be inferred that the subject of this poem is a young lady who lives in royalty; her silk fan in the second line of the poem suggests this to be true, as silk was a rare commodity and a symbol of wealth in ancient China. However, instead of being surrounded by other friends, this maiden plays with fireflies and sits alone in the middle of the night to gaze at the stars in the galaxy. Evidently, she is a lonely girl who, for some unknown reason, lives in isolation. Du Mu furthers this aura of isolation with the chilly setting; the terms 冷 (cold) and 凉 (cool) signify a lack of vitality and energy that comes in the presence of other people. Perhaps the reason for her secluded state lies in a broken heart; after all, the last line alludes to a prominent Chinese legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid, two lovers who were forced to separate due to their different statuses, one being a human and the other being a heavenly being. Young maidens who live in royalty often serve as concubines to the emperor; maybe this maiden is, in fact, a concubine for the emperor, but harbors a childhood love that distances her from her imperial friends. Although the reason behind her solitude remains unknown, it is clear that the subject of this poem experiences a desolate state of mind.
Reader's Companion
The Essence of the Verse
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Reading Between the Lines
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
- Lament for Spring II
- At Chan-zhì Temple, Yangzhou
- The Spring Palace II
- The Spring Palace I
- Temple of the Heroine
- On the Black River Pavilion
- The Summit Temple
- <Prelude to Water Melody> Sent to Ziyou on Mid-autumn Festival
- Invitation to Wine
- Question and Answer in the Mountains
- Cold sheet
- Coming Home ( Returning Home )
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