Her candle-light is silvery on her chill bright screen.
Her little silk fan is for fireflies....
She lies watching her staircase cold in the moon,
And two stars parted by the River of Heaven.
Original Poem:
「秋夕」
杜牧
银烛秋光冷画屏，轻罗小扇扑流萤。
天阶夜色凉如水，坐看牵牛织女星。
Interpretation:
This poem expresses the bleak state of mind and lonely life of a deserted courtesan.
The first two lines: the candlelight of the silver candle reflects the cold screen, holding a small damask fan to fight the fireflies.
The first two sentences draw a picture of the desolate life in the palace: in the autumn evening, the candlelight trembles, the screen is dark. At this time, a lonely palace maid is using a small fan to beat the fireflies flying around. The fan was originally used for fanning in summer to get cool, but it is useless in autumn, so ancient poets often use the autumn fan to compare the abandoned woman.
The last two lines: The stone steps in the night are as cool as cold water, lying down and gazing at the Altair and Vega stars on both sides of the heavenly river.
The night is already deep, cool air, when into the house into the dream, but the courtesan is still sitting on top of the stone steps, watching the Altair and Weaving Maiden on both sides of the Tianhe River. Probably the story of the cowherd and the weaving maiden touched her heart! It reminds her of her unfortunate life, and makes her yearn for true love. It can be said that her heart is full of thoughts in this lifting up her head to look up.
This poem is skillfully conceived, with simple and fluent language, reflecting the miserable fate of women under the feudal system.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Du Mu (杜牧), 803-853 AD, was a native of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Among the poets of the Late Tang Dynasty, he was one of those who had his own characteristics, and later people called Li Shangyin and Du Mu as "Little Li and Du". His poems are bright and colorful.
