Shui Tiao Ko Tou

Su Tung-po 1037 (Meishan, Sichuan) – 1101 (Huizong of Song)



Will a moon so bright ever arise again?
Drink a cupful of wine and ask of the sky.
I don't know where the palace gate of heaven is,
Or even the year in which tonight slips by.
I want to return riding the whirl-wind! But I
Feel afraid that this heaven of jasper and jade
Lets in the cold, its palaces rear so high.
I shall get up and dance with my own shadow.
From life endured among men how far a cry!

Round the red pavilion
Slanting through the lattices
Onto every wakeful eye,
Moon, why should you bear a grudge, O why
Insist in time of separation so th fill the sky?
Men know joy and sorow, parting and reunion;
The moon lacks lustre, brightly shines; is al, is less.
Perfection was never easily come by.
Though miles apart, could men but live for ever
Dreaming they shared this moonlight endlessly!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 sec read
54

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABAAXAXA CBAAACXAXX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 792
Words 155
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 9, 10

Su Tung-po

Su Shi, courtesy name Zizhan (Chinese: 子瞻), art name Dongpo (Chinese: 東坡), was a Chinese calligrapher, gastronome, painter, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and writer of the Song dynasty. more…

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