Now that a candle-shadow stands on the screen of carven marble
And the River of Heaven slants and the morning stars are low,
Are you sorry for having stolen the potion that has set you
Over purple seas and blue skies, to brood t hrough the long nights?
Original Poem:
「嫦娥」
李商隐
云母屏风烛影深，长河渐落晓星沉。
嫦娥应悔偷灵药，碧海青天夜夜心。
Interpretation:
The story of Chang’e’s journey to the moon stops when Chang’e swallows the elixir and runs to the moon, but the poet depicts the scene after she reaches the moon with rich imagination, which is cold, lonesome and helpless, and such a mood symbolises the state of mind of certain people at certain times.
In the Guanghan Palace, the shadows of the candles swaying on the mica screen are getting dimmer and dimmer, and in the pale night sky, the bright Milky Way is gradually falling down, and the star of enlightenment is sinking into the depths of the canopy. The day was nearing dawn, and another night was about to pass. Guanghan Palace is opulent, beautiful, food and clothing, but that alone in the Guanghan Palace is so bleak and boring, without the hustle and bustle of the mortal world, pain and worry, but also without the warmth and happiness of the world. After the first few days of freshness, excitement and joy in Guanghan Palace, one long night can only guard the lonely lamp, and carefully go to see whether the candle shadow on the mica screen is thick or light, and it is never-ending.
This poem adopts the technique of symbolism, Chang’e’s quietness and solitude, and the meaning reflected by Chang’e’s inner activities match the poet’s understanding of certain emotions in real life, such as the loss after success, the loneliness behind the hustle and bustle, and the remorse after perseverance, and so on, and they can arouse people’s general resonance.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Li Shangyin (李商隐), 813-858 AD, was a great poet of the late Tang Dynasty. His poems were on a par with those of Du Mu, and he was known as “Little Li Du”. Li Shangyin was a native of Qinyang, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. When he was a teenager, he lost his father at the age of nine, and was called “Zheshui East and West, half a century of wandering”.
