Cold Thoughts, Li Shangyin – 李商隐《凉思》

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In middle earth (Kansas), the temperature is minus 12 degrees Celsius. The sun is rising in the east, but clouds overhead make for a grey and cold day. The night before was clear and the Milky Way hung low in the sky, making a pathway for my thoughts to rise to the heavens.

A good day for an English translation of 涼 思 by Li Shangyin:

Cold Thoughts, by Li Shangyin.

客 去 波 平 檻

蟬 休 露 滿 枝

永 懷 當 此 節

倚 立 自 移 時

北 斗 兼 春 遠

南 陵 寓 使 遲

天 涯 占 夢 數

疑  誤  有  新 知

You are gone, at my door the river rises.
Cicadas are thick on dew-laden boughs.
This moment when deep thoughts arise.
I exist alone for a while.
The North Star is far and so is spring,
And your letters from the south never arrive
From the end of the earth regard this dream
Perhaps, you have found another friend.

French translation of Cold Thoughts by Li Shangyi.

Pensées froides

Tu es partie, à ma porte la rivière monte
Les cigales riche de rosée sur les branches sont épaisses
Ce moment où des pensées profondes paraîtent
Pendant un moment seul, j’existe.
L’étoile du Nord comme le printemps est loin
Et vos lettres de sud n’arrivent jamais
À la fin de la terre, je rêve
Peut-être, vous avez trouvé un autre ami

Notes.

The title of the poem in English is often given as Thoughts in the Cold.

The river is the Wei, which flows by Chang’an, the capital of the Tang dynasty. The cicadas secrete a liquid which the Chinese referred to as “dew”. Li Shangyin refers to 北 斗 , (Běi dòu) the Big Bucket (Big Dipper) rather than the North Star to keep up the water allusion. I also wonder if this is not a double entendre, for “struggle” in the north, The Tang dynasty’s fight with the Tibetans and other rebels. 斗 may translate as fight or struggle. Literally, the northern dipper (bucket) or struggle.

天 涯 , the end of the world is also rich in meaning, and that his dreams may be suggestive is an understatement.

The successful suppression of the An Lushan Rebellion by the Tang dynasty did not end the role of the rebels in the south of the kingdom, nor did it end the threat from the Tibetans in the north.

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