In the Lantern Festival last year,
the colourful lights turned the night into day.
The moon rose above the willow trees,
we went to a tryst in the cold riverbank.
In the Lantern Festival this year,
the lights and moon are shiny as before.
Without you coming here,i just
wiped my tears which have wet my shirt.
去年元夜时，花市灯如昼。
月到柳梢头，人约黄昏后。
今年元夜时，月与灯依旧。
不见去年人，泪满春衫袖。
Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072)was the vice-premier w ho made important contribution to the development of literature during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127),but who represented higher achievement in prose than in poetry.This poem depicts a young woman waiting in vain for her beloved on the night of the Spring Moon Festival or Lanter Festival,that is,the 15th day of the first month by the lunar calendar.
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.
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