Moonlight On Ou River
© Surazeus
2018 04 21
Sitting alone, writing brush in her hand,
in the round room on top of the pagoda,
Jiang Ying-Yue watches silver moonlight glow,
flickering on the black surface of Ou River.
"How long must I wait for Fei-Hung to come,
soaring like a swan among the white clouds?
His laughter makes joy bloom from my sad heart,
like Bai Zhi blossoms that burst whole in Spring."
Watching horsemen ride over arching bridge,
Ying-Yue sighs, and writes her name on the scroll,
Reflection of the Moon on river waves,
then eats a cherry that bursts on her tongue.
"My father keeps me hidden in this room
far above the river where I once played,
running among weeds on the muddy shore
and chasing frogs with my love, Wang Fei-Hung."
Someone knocks and the gray-haired fisherwoman
gives her a scroll so she unrolls and reads.
"When he embraces moonlight in the river,
the Swan will meet the Moon in the peach grove."
When her father Ou Zhu opens the door
she follows him down stairs to the court yard
where she kneels low before her future husband
who leads her to the shrine of her ancestors.
During the feast her father laughs and shouts,
"Fei-Hung was out fishing on the Ou River
when he embraced reflection of the moon
and drowned in the black waters of despair."
Sitting with her husband on the river boat,
Jiang Ying-Yue never looks at her waving parents,
but gazes at reflection of the moon
that shimmers on the black waves of Ou River.
As the river boat glides from her home island,
Ying-Yue stands and bows to her startled husband,
then dives into reflection of the moon
and sinks deep into the waters of love.
Floating in the silent gloom of Ou River,
Ying-Yue gazes upward at the bright moon
that glows silver and round above the world,
then she swims like an otter toward the shore.
Dripping wet with laughter of hopeful joy,
Ying-Yue glows white in the light of the moon
as she runs through woods on the river shore
to the peach grove where Fei-Hung waits for her.
Embracing among trees heavy with peaches,
White Swan and Moon Light kiss in the warm breeze,
two hearts beating with rhythm of Ou River
that flows sparkling between their weeping eyes.
Sitting in the round hut in willow trees,
Ying-Yue cradles new-born daughter Bai-Zhi,
who suckles white milk from her soft plump breast,
while Fei-Hung builds another river boat.
© Surazeus
2018 04 21
Sitting alone, writing brush in her hand,
in the round room on top of the pagoda,
Jiang Ying-Yue watches silver moonlight glow,
flickering on the black surface of Ou River.
"How long must I wait for Fei-Hung to come,
soaring like a swan among the white clouds?
His laughter makes joy bloom from my sad heart,
like Bai Zhi blossoms that burst whole in Spring."
Watching horsemen ride over arching bridge,
Ying-Yue sighs, and writes her name on the scroll,
Reflection of the Moon on river waves,
then eats a cherry that bursts on her tongue.
"My father keeps me hidden in this room
far above the river where I once played,
running among weeds on the muddy shore
and chasing frogs with my love, Wang Fei-Hung."
Someone knocks and the gray-haired fisherwoman
gives her a scroll so she unrolls and reads.
"When he embraces moonlight in the river,
the Swan will meet the Moon in the peach grove."
When her father Ou Zhu opens the door
she follows him down stairs to the court yard
where she kneels low before her future husband
who leads her to the shrine of her ancestors.
During the feast her father laughs and shouts,
"Fei-Hung was out fishing on the Ou River
when he embraced reflection of the moon
and drowned in the black waters of despair."
Sitting with her husband on the river boat,
Jiang Ying-Yue never looks at her waving parents,
but gazes at reflection of the moon
that shimmers on the black waves of Ou River.
As the river boat glides from her home island,
Ying-Yue stands and bows to her startled husband,
then dives into reflection of the moon
and sinks deep into the waters of love.
Floating in the silent gloom of Ou River,
Ying-Yue gazes upward at the bright moon
that glows silver and round above the world,
then she swims like an otter toward the shore.
Dripping wet with laughter of hopeful joy,
Ying-Yue glows white in the light of the moon
as she runs through woods on the river shore
to the peach grove where Fei-Hung waits for her.
Embracing among trees heavy with peaches,
White Swan and Moon Light kiss in the warm breeze,
two hearts beating with rhythm of Ou River
that flows sparkling between their weeping eyes.
Sitting in the round hut in willow trees,
Ying-Yue cradles new-born daughter Bai-Zhi,
who suckles white milk from her soft plump breast,
while Fei-Hung builds another river boat.
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