The cool breeze blows on silent night in Town of Stone,
To view the south I mount the high tower alone.
White clouds and city walls mirrored on ripples swoon;
Dewdrops look like pearls dripping from the autumn moon.
Crooning long, I won't go back; drowned in moon rays;
How few are connoisseurs in my eyes since olden days!
Seeing the river crystal-clear and silver-white,
How I miss the unforgettable poet bright!
Original Poem:
「金陵城西楼月下吟」
李白
金陵夜寂凉风发，独上高楼望吴越。
白云映水摇空城，白露垂珠滴秋月。
月下沉吟久不归，古来相接眼中稀。
解道澄江净如练，令人长忆谢玄晖。
Interpretation:
The West Tower of Jinling City is a scenic spot on Overboat Hill northwest of Jinling City, with the winding city wall and the vast Yangtze River in the distance. This poem is written by Li Bai to describe what he saw and felt when he climbed the West Tower at night, and to express his respect and admiration for Xie Wu.
The first two lines: On a quiet night in Jinling, with a cool breeze, I climbed up to the tower alone to look out over Wu-Yue.
The night was deep and quiet, and the west wind started to rise under the city of Jinling. The poet went up to the west city alone, raised his eyes and looked around, only to see that the whole Wu-Yue wilderness was covered by the watery moonlight, presenting a hazy scenery.
The third and fourth lines: the white clouds and the shadow of the city wall are reflected on the river surface, the microwave surging, as if the white clouds, the city wall in the gently swaying, the drooping dewdrops as if dripping out of the moon.
Looking down at the white clouds and the shadow of the city wall reflected in the river, the microwave surging, as if the white clouds, the city wall in the gently swaying; looking up at the distant sky drooping dewdrops, illuminated by the moonlight, like a pearl crystal, as if dripping from the moon. Fourteen words, the autumn moon Linjiang ancient city special night scene, depicted very realistic and evocative.
The fifth and sixth lines: moonlight meditation for a long time, thinking of the ancients, sighing that nowadays the people who can communicate with the ancients is really rare.
The poet stands under the moon, pondering and meditating for a long time. It turns out that he is lamenting the world is muddy, difficult to meet the soulmate, revealing the poet's life of unrecognized talent, indignation of the world's bitter feelings. Then the poet said that not only is his immediate soulmate rare, since ancient times, talented, ambitious people at that time are also so.
The last two lines: When I really enjoy the beautiful scenery of the “clear river”, I remember the famous poet Xie Xuanhui of the Southern Dynasty.
Li Bai admired Xie Xi throughout his life because of his fresh and elegant poetic style, and because his lonely, arrogant character and misfortune were similar to Li Bai's. When Xie Xi was ostracized from his post, he was forced to leave the country and was forced to leave the country. When Xie Wu was ostracized from the capital and left Jinling, he wrote a poem describing the magnificent scenery of Jinling and expressing his nostalgia for his homeland, in which he compared the clear water of the river to white silk. When Li Bai climbed to the West Tower of the city at night and when Xie Xie climbed to the Three Mountains at night, his situation was equally unfortunate and his mood was equally bitter, so he naturally thought of the river scenery written by Xie Xie, and the mood of Xie Xie when he was writing the poem, and then he exclaimed, “Xie Xie can compose such a good poem, which makes me miss him deeply.
This poem is coherent in terms of words, colors, tones, and rhymes, showing a pale, sad, and somber atmosphere.
Poem translator:
Xu Yuan-chong(许渊冲)
About the poet:
Li Bai (李白), 701 ~ 762 A.D., whose ancestral home was in Gansu, was preceded by Li Guang, a general of the Han Dynasty. Tang poetry is one of the brightest constellations in the history of Chinese literature, and one of the brightest stars is Li Bai.
