To One Unnamed
- Poetry of Li Shangyin

《无题·昨夜星辰昨夜风》

English Rendering

The stars of last night and the wind of last night

Are west of the Painted Chamber and east of Cinnamon Hall.

...Though I have for my body no wings like those of the brightcoloured phoenix,

Yet I feel the harmonious heart-beat of the Sacred Unicorn.

Across the spring-wine, while it warms me, I prompt you how to bet

Where, group by group, we are throwing dice in the light of a crimson lamp;

Till the rolling of a drum, alas, calls me to my duties

And I mount my horse and ride away, like a water-plant cut adrift.

To One Unnamed by Li Shangyin
To One Unnamed by Li Shangyin

Original Text (中文原文)

昨夜星辰昨夜风,画楼西畔桂堂东。

身无彩凤双飞翼,心有灵犀一点通。

隔座送钩春酒暖,分曹射覆蜡灯红。

嗟余听鼓应官去,走马兰台类转蓬。

Analysis & Context

Seven-character-regular-verse

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.

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