national poetry month day 18

[extemporally]

静夜思
《李白》

床 前 明 月 光，
疑 是 地 上 霜。
举 头 望 明 月，
低 头 思 故 乡。

phonetically:

Jing Ye Si

Chuang qian ming yue guang
Yi shi di shang shuang.
Ju tou wang ming yue
Di tou si gu xiang.

- Li Bai

trans. Xu Yuanzhang:

A Tranquil Night

Before my bed a frost of light
Is it hoarfrost upon the ground
Eyes raised, I see the moon so bright
Head bent, in homesickness I'm drowned

trans. Arthur Cooper:

Quiet Night Thoughts

Before my bed
There is bright-lit moonlight
So that it seems
Like frost on the ground:

Lifting my head
I watch the bright moon
Lowering my head
I dream that I'm home.

trans. H.A. Giles:

Night Thoughts

I wake and moonbeams play around my bed
Glittering like hoarfroast to my wondering eyes
Upwards the glorious moon I raise my head
Then lay me down and thoughts of home arise

trans. Andrew W.F. Wong:

Night Thoughts

Before my bed, the moonlight so bright,
Be frost on the ground, I suppose it might.
I raise my head and the moon I behold, then
I lower it, brooding: I’m homesick tonight.

trans. L. Cranmer-Byng:

Thoughts in a Tranquil Night

Athwart the bed
I watch the moonbeams cast a trail
So Bright, so cold, so frail,
That for a space it gleams
Like hoar-frost on the margin of my dreams.
I raise my head, --
The splendid moon I see:
The droop my head,
And to dreams of thee --
My Fatherland, of thee!

trans. your humble host:

Quiet Night Thoughts

Before my window there is bright moonlight
Like cold frost on all the ground.
I raise my head to watch the moon
And lower it to thoughts of home.