水調歌頭·明月幾時有

蘇軾

Moon To the Tune of Shui Diao Ge Tou

—By Su Shi

明月幾時有？

把酒問青天。

When would the moon begin to appear?

Wine-cup in hand,I ask the blue sky.

不知天上宮闕，

今夕是何年。

I do not know what time of year,it would be tonight in the palace on high.

我欲乘風歸去，

又恐瓊樓玉宇，

高處不勝寒。

Riding the wind,there I would fly.

Yet I'm afraid the crystalline palace would be too cold and high.

起舞弄清影，

何似在人間！

I enjoy dancing with my shadow in the moonlight,

How could it compare with the mortal world my heart ties？

轉朱閣，

低綺戶，

照無眠。

The moon goes round the mansions red，hangs lowly on the carved windows,and shines on those who sleepless lie.

不應有恨，

何事長向別時圓？

The moon shouldn't bring spite against people,Why upon our parting is it often full and bright?

人有悲歡離合，

月有陰晴圓缺，

此事古難全。

Men may have sorrow and joy,separation and reunion，

As the moon may be dim or clear,and she may wax or wane，but perfect happiness has been rare since ancient time.

但愿人長久，

千里共嬋娟。

I only pray our life safe and long，Though thousand miles apart,We'll together share the beautiful moonlight tonight.

Appreciation(賞析):

“To the Tune of Water Melody:the Mid-Autumn Festival”was written by Su Shi，the famous poet in China’s Song Dynasty，in 1076.The poem expresses the infinite memory of Su Shi’s brother Su Zhe at the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Because he has different political view with Wang Anshi and others who were in power,Su Shi was exiled for political crimes.He once asked to be transferred to a place close to Su Zhe as an official in order to have chance to get together with his brother,but he failed.By 1076,Su Shi and his brother Su Zhe have been without reunion for seven years.At the Mid-Autumn Festival,A bright moon in the sky,silver everywhere,triggered his unlimited sentiment of missing for brother.

Su Shi is a romantic poet.When he looked up at the Mid-Autumn moon,his thoughts and feelings flew freely both in the sky and the world,just like birds with wings.In the face of a bright moon,his mind kept turning in an endless loop,so he took a good drink and wrote this famous poem.The poem begins with the moon,with seven years of missing as the basis,and expresses imagination and thinking around the Mid-Autumn moon.

This image of the moon concentrates the infinite vision and ideal of human beings.Su Shi combined descriptions of natural phenomena.He not merely described sorrows he felt when parting with lovers but also included recollections of the past,travel notes and reasoning.The poem reflects the author's complex and contradictory thoughts and feelings,and also shows the author's love for life with optimism.

In particular,the last two beautiful lines of the poem express good wishes to all who are suffering from the pain of separation and spread through the ages.