When the moon has coloured half the house,
With the North Star at its height and the South Star setting,
I can feel the first motions of the warm air of spring
In the singing of an insect at my green-silk window.
Original Poem:
「月夜」
刘方平
更深月色半人家， 北斗阑干南斗斜。
今夜偏知春气暖， 虫声新透绿窗沙。
Interpretation:
This poem describes the scene of a quiet and chilly moonlit night, expressing the relief and delight of spring's arrival on earth.
The first two lines: The night is quiet and deeper, and the hazy slanting moon casts a little clear light, reflecting on every household. In the night sky, the Big Dipper and the Big Dipper are both slanting horizontally.
The moonlight night is quiet and beautiful. At midnight, the moon hangs diagonally in the sky, reflecting on the households. Half of the courtyard is bathed in bright moonlight, while the other half is shrouded in the darkness of the night. The contrast between light and darkness emphasizes the quietness of the moonlit night and the emptiness of the courtyard. Next, the line of sight is drawn to the boundless sky, making the reader feel that the boundless sky is also covered by the silence of the night.
In the last two lines, I unexpectedly felt the warmth of early spring tonight, and heard the sound of spring insects penetrating the green window screen.
Through the sound of insects, I write about the spring in the moonlit night. In the middle of the night, when it is cold and quiet, the sensitive bugs are the first to feel the message of spring emanating from the night air, thus chirping crisply and cheerfully. The poet is infected by the happy chirping of the insects, and cannot help but think of the beautiful picture of the return of spring to the earth.
The poet's conception is original and unique, and the poem depicts a beautifully serene and vibrant realm, giving the impression that things are rich in change, and that this change is still and beautifully contained.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the Poet:
Liu Fang-ping (刘方平) was a native of Luoyang. Liu Fangping was a native of Luoyang. He was good at painting landscapes and writing poems, but he was unrecognized throughout his life, and lived in seclusion on the banks of the Yingshui and Ruhe rivers, and remained unrepresented throughout his life.
