Bright Autumn Moon (after Su Shi)
Clouds gather on the horizon, but here
it’s clear and cold as the silent Milky Way
and the stone of heaven, turning.
My life, like this night, will not last long.
Where will the bright moon find me next year?
The transliteration on Chinese-poems.com reads:
Mid-Autumn Moon
Sunset cloud gather far excess clear cold
Milky Way silent turn jade plate
This life this night not long good
Next year bright moon where see
Jade was also known as the “stone of heaven” and was considered a bridge
between heaven and earth. It made more sense to me in this context. I’m clearly
taking license here…
O at the Edges 
I like the way you have made sense of this reflective poem.
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Thank you, Derrick.
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A little license helps a lot. Did not know about jade as bridge to heaven – intriguing.
Wherever the bright moon next finds you, my fingers are crossed you will be jotting down poems.
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I’m hoping to last a while longer, but yes, wherever the bright moon next finds me, I hope to be immersed in poetry.
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The stone of heaven: a jade…. An autumn that brightens. Like it!
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Thank you.
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My pleasure!
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The bright moon will find you reflecting on the heavens. You cannot help it.
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So true. We can’t escape.
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These few well chosen words capture time, life, eternity and much more in striking poetic nuance.
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Thanks very much, Linda. I can only hope that some of the original mood/meaning has been evoked in this version.
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You did the same thing I often do when confronted by a puzzling image in something I’m translating: make it vivid in English.When I do this I worry that I’m wrong, I do want serve the poet/author. But a lank image does no one any favors!
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It’s all I know to do. I don’t consider these translations, because I have no knowledge of the original language, and so much is lost because of that.
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