The Double Ninth Festival

Li Ching Chao 1804 (Jinan, Shandong) – 1155 (Shaoxing, Zhejiang)



To the tune of "Intoxicated Under the Shadow of Flowers"

Light mists and heavy clouds,
  melancholy the long dreary day.

In the golden censer
  the burning incense is dying away.

It is again time
  for the lovely Double-Ninth Festival;
  
The coolness of midnight
  penetrates my screen of sheer silk
     and chills my pillow of jade.
 
 
After drinking wine at twilight
  under the chrysanthemum hedge,
  
My sleeves are perfumed
  by the fragrance of the plants.
  
Oh, I cannot say it is not endearing,

Only, when the west wind stirs the curtain,
  I see that I am more gracile
     than the yellow flowers.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
59

Quick analysis:

Scheme A XB XB XC DXX DX XX X XCA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 598
Words 103
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 1, 3

Li Ching Chao

Li Qingzhao, pseudonym Householder of Yi'an (易安居士), was a Chinese poet and essayist during the Song dynasty.[2] She is considered one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. more…

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