You are gone. The river is high at my door.
Cicadas are mute on dew-laden boughs.
This is a moment when thoughts enter deep.
I stand alone for a long while.
...The North Star is nearer to me now than spring,
And couriers from your southland never arrive --
Yet I doubt my dream on the far horizon
That you have found another friend.
Poem translator: Kiang Kanghu
客去波平槛，蝉休露满枝。
永怀当此节，倚立自移时。
北斗兼春远，南陵寓使迟。
天涯占梦数，疑误有新知。
Five-character-regular-verse
Composed on an autumn night, this poem captures the poet's melancholic contemplation amidst chilly scenery, his thoughts swirling with longing for distant friends and reflections on his own circumstances. Autumn's inherent melancholy deepens through separation and unanswered correspondence, with "Thoughts in the cold" becoming the delicate vessel for these layered emotions.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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