The Mother of Heaven, in her window by the Jade Pool,
Hears The Yellow Bamboo Song shaking the whole earth.
Where is Emperor Mu, with his eight horses running
Ten thousand miles a day? Why has he never come back?
Poem translator: Kiang Kanghu
瑶池阿母绮窗开，黄竹歌声动地哀。
八骏日行三万里，穆王何事不重来。
Seven-character-quatrain
This lyrical masterpiece by Li Shangyin reimagines the mythological encounter between King Mu of Zhou and the Queen Mother of the West (Xi Wangmu), transforming an ancient legend into a profound meditation on broken promises and temporal disillusionment. Composed during the late Tang Dynasty's spiritual crisis, when emperors obsessively pursued immortality, the poem's surface narrative of divine longing conceals sharp political allegory. Through Xi Wangmu's eternal wait, the poet constructs a multi-layered discourse on the futility of earthly power against time's inexorable flow.
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.
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.
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