THE ENCHANTMENT OF THE FULL BRIGHT MOON
“The Melody of the Flow of Water”
A lyric of the Sung Dynasty (960-1279)
By Su-shi (So Tung Po)
Translated by Yuk Wor Lee
When would the moon be full and bright
I ask thee--the divine in the blue sky
Toasting with a cup of wine
What would it be the year and date tonight
at the heavenly courts high above
How I wish to drift home with the breeze fearing only
the palaces of carvings and jades there
are too cold and high for me
Dancing fantastically with my own shadow
I find myself in the heavenly world
Searching round the mansion red and high
crouching through the window
with carvings and blinds
she glares at the restless guy
why should thee--full moon--tend to appear
at this time when the loved ones are far apart
though they bear no grudge in their hearts
There are times of joy when they are together
and times of sorrow when they are separated apart
as the moon is sometimes dim and sometimes bright
as well as wax and wane since the very beginning
To expect this turn out to be heartily perfect
is but hard and in vane
Long shall we live
Long shall we share the enchantment of the moon
full and bright
even through we’re thousands of miles apart
Su Shui wrote this poem on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1076 while he got drunk holding tight a cup of wine in his hand thinking of this brother, Zi-you, throughout the night
Translated by Yuk Wor Lee
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