To the Moon Goddess
- Poetry of Li Shangyin

《嫦娥》

English Translation

Now that a candle-shadow stands on the screen of carven marble

And the River of Heaven slants and the morning stars are low,

Are you sorry for having stolen the potion that has set you

Over purple seas and blue skies, to brood through the long nights?

Poem translator: Kiang Kanghu

Seven-character-quatrain

This poem takes the mythological story of Chang'e flying to the moon as its subject, but rather than stopping at the plot of Chang'e swallowing the elixir and ascending to heaven, it employs rich imagination to depict her lonely life in the moon palace afterwards. Through this image, the poet projects his own reflections, expressing sorrow about his real-life circumstances.

中文原文( Chinese )

云母屏风烛影深，长河渐落晓星沉。

嫦娥应悔偷灵药，碧海青天夜夜心。

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Next：Jiasheng

Why Chinese poems is so special?: The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.

How to read a Chinese poem?: Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.

To the Moon Goddess - Poetry of Li Shangyin

To the Moon Goddess
- Poetry of Li Shangyin