While a cold wind is creeping under my mat, And the city's naked wall grows pale with the autumn moon, I see a lone wildgoose crossing the River of Stars, And I hear, on stone in the night, thousands of washingmallets .... But, instead of wishing the season, as it goes, To bear me also far away, I have found your poem so beautiful That I forget the homing birds.
Original Poem:
「酬程延秋夜即事见赠」
韩翃
长簟迎风早，空城澹月华。
星河秋一雁，砧杵夜千家。
节候看应晚，心期卧亦赊。
向来吟秀句，不觉已鸣鸦。
Interpretation:
This is the poet’s rewarding work, describing the scenery beautifully, the rhyme is fresh, is a rather characteristic and poem.
The poem focuses on the autumn night, and describes the clear and sparse scene of the wind and the moon, and the sound of geese passing anvils, which is infinitely serene. The poet writes: the towering long bamboo, the earliest in the cold wind of the autumn night swaying, the sound; and the silent city is shrouded in the light of the moon, a clear light. A line of returning geese swept high above the starry sky, as if flying towards the Milky Way, and in this quiet night, resounded the sound of pounding clothes in thousands of homes …… The mood is open, so that one can hear as well as see.
According to the climate of this season, it should be to the autumn deeper night, but because of each other’s heart and write poems to reward, even the time to go to bed has been postponed a lot. The poet uses this to express his lament that the season has passed and his wish has not been fulfilled.
Finally, the poet concludes with a poem in praise of his friend’s gift: I have always loved to recite the lines you sent me, and I do not realise that it is time for the crows to rise up in the morning. This is a sincere expression of one’s deep feeling of chanting the verses of friends and staying awake all night. This poem is sincere, showing his friendship with his friend, and at the same time expressing the complexity of the poet’s mind caused by the change of time.
Han hong (韩翃), whose date of birth and death is unknown, was a native of Nanyang (present-day Nanyang, Henan). In 754 A.D., Han hong was awarded a Bachelor’s Degree, and worked in the office of Hou Xiyi, then lived in Chang’an for ten years. In 780 AD, he was promoted to the post of “Gaobu Langzhong” (驾部郎中) and “Zhiqun” (知制诰) in the Ministry of Transportation, and then to the post of “Zhongshu Sheyan” (中書舍人). Han hong was one of the “Ten Scholarly Men of the Dali Dynasty”, and his poems were written in a light style, with chic landscapes, and most of the subjects were farewell songs and harmonies.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
