My comments on Moonlit Night by Du Fu Regrets about the past, bewilderment about how the family is handling all of this, personal longing for his wife...it is such an expressive poem. The specific images of the second part are particularly moving. There are visual images and the sense of touch is alluded to strongly: damp hair, cold skin, leaning against the window and feeling tears on the face. It is a poem for all the lonely, separated people in the world. I like the way it looks forward hopefully to the future when they will be reunited. The question is touching. Merv Daw I like this poem very much. The image is pretty and touching. He imagines his wife in the fragrant mist, thinking she is also lonely . The two people are separated but watching the same moon. How unfortunate they are! I can really understand Du Fu 's feeling at that time because missing a person is a very sorrowful thing. Cyrus Lung The poem is presented below. Try reading it again |
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| Window on Chinese Poetry |
"Moonlit Night" by Du Fu Tonight my wife must watch alone the full moon over Fu-Shou; I think sadly of my sons and daughters far away, too young to understand this separation or remember our life in Chang�an. In fragrant mist her flowing hair is damp; in clear moonlight her jade-white arms are cold. When will we lean at the open casement together while the moonlight dries our shining tears? Adapted from a translation by David Lunde |