English Rendering
Leave-takers do not speak. The moon is silent, too.
Full moon glows with light. Leave-takers glow, too.
After parting, missing starts, seems just like a moon:
Amid the clouds, upon the waves, passing out of sight.
Parting Gift on a Moonlit Night
- Poetry of Li Ye
《明月夜留别》Original Text (中文原文)
离人无语月无声，明月有光人有情。
别后相思人似月，云间水上到层城。
Meaning & Analysis
By Li Ye
Related Themes
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.
- Seeing Yan Bojun Off to Shan County
- On Yan Bojun's Manuscript
- Tying Silk Fish for Friends
- Chance Respite
- Spring Boudoir Complaint
- 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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