Contributors to the Poetry Pavilion and I chose seven poems to recite as part of an inaugural Poetry Slam event at the Chine New Year Party, 2022. We began the event by listening to a recording by Helen T. Lin’s father, Professor Dai Junren (戴君仁教授) reciting poems from the Tang dynasty. Among the poems that he recited was Thoughts on a Quiet Night by Li Bo. Li Bo (701-762) is one of the most famous of Tang dynasty poets and Thoughts on a Quiet Night is among the most famous of his many poems. The poem by Li Bo below is a shi 詩poem in five-character regulated verse, with five characters in each line and internal rhymes.
靜夜思 李白 | Jìng yè sī Lǐ Bó | Thoughts on a Quiet Night by Li Bo |
牀前明月光 | Chuáng qián míng yuè guāng | In front of the bed bright moonlight |
疑是地上霜 | Yí shì dì shàng shuāng. | I wonder if it is frost on the ground |
舉頭望明月 | Jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè | I lift my head towards the bright moon |
低頭思故鄉。 | Dī tóu sī gù xiāng. | Then lower it, thinking of my old home. |
月上(Moon Rise) from 销闲清课图(Album Depicting Life of Leisure and Solitude) by 孙克弘 (Sun Kehong, 1532—1611）Ming Dynasty. National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Comments