Imagine a small poem
chanted a hundred times
each word bringing new feelings
sounding golden
my thoughts have climbed the wall
between our houses
I gaze into the distance—
my heart's not made of stone
the Milky Way looks expectant
out there in the vastness
Hunan's rivers are waking up
the zither is fully tuned
every April the Cold Food Festival
leaves me a little homesick
silent night, mellow wine—
don't make me pour it alone.
一首诗来百度吟，新情字字又声金。
西看已有登垣意，远望能无化石心。
河汉期赊空极目，潇湘梦断罢调琴。
况逢寒节添乡思，叔夜佳醪莫独斟。
Seven-character poem
This poem is probably also from late in Yu Xuanji's life when she has established herself poetically, probably in Chang'an, where she now, probably, lives. She doesn't mark this poem as an answer to Wen Tingyun. So it is probably to some other poet in her circle of literary friends. The original poem must have been about climbing over a wall to ask a new neighbor to the west for wine and finding they were about to ask you for the same.
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.
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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