Enjoying the Moon with My Cousin, Remembering Cui of Shanyin
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
开帷月初吐。
清辉澹水木，
演漾在窗户。
冉冉几盈虚，
澄澄变今古。
美人清江畔，
是夜越吟苦。
千里共如何，
微风吹兰杜。
English translation
Lying at ease in the south study, I draw the curtain, the moon just rising.
Its clear light pales the water and the trees, and flows, rippling, at my window.
Slowly it waxes and wanes, again and again, limpid and bright, it changes past and present.
My fair friend lies by the clear river, and tonight, singing the airs of Yue, grieves.
A thousand li apart, sharing this, how is it? A faint wind stirs the orchid and the du-ruo.
Meaning
While my cousin and I lay at ease in the south study, I drew up the curtain to delight in the jade hare just rising.
Moonlight, flowing water and trees rose and fell together, cast upon the window.
Time passes on; how often has the moon at this window waxed and waned? Its clear light is unchanged through a thousand years, yet the world today is not the world of old.
The honoured Master Cui, governor of Shanyin, dwells beside the Qing River; surely tonight he suffers the longing of Zhuang Xi for Yue.
Though a thousand li lie between us, can we not share the loveliness of the moon? The breeze carries the fragrance of orchid and day-lily.