Song of Mulberry Picking: Moon over the River Tower
- Poetry of Lü Benzhong
I wish you were like the moon o’er riverside tower,
North, south, east, west—
North, south, east, west—
Following me every hour, never apart.
I hate you for being like that moon so bright,
Waxing full then waning—
Waxing full then waning—
When will your perfect circle reunite?
Composed during the twilight of the Northern Song, this lyric by Lü Benzhong exemplifies the era's mastery of emotional restraint. Through lunar metaphor and structural parallelism, it captures a woman's lament—at once reproachful and yearning—for an absent lover. The poem's brilliance lies in its dual paradox: the moon is both idealized as constant companion and reviled as fickle orb, mirroring love's contradictions with crystalline precision.
恨君不似江楼月，南北东西，南北东西，只有相随无别离。
恨君却似江楼月，暂满还亏，暂满还亏，待得团圆是几时？
- 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.