Moonlit Night (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Du Fu
- First Published: 756
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Children, Family or family life, Husbands, Wives, Love or romance, Separation, Family reunions, Moon or moons, Joy or sorrow
The Poem
“Moonlit Night” is one of Du Fu’s most frequently translated short lyrics. Because love poems are relatively rare in Chinese poetry, “Moonlit Night” is a rather precious gem.
As the poem opens, the poet imagines that his wife must be by herself in her boudoir, gazing at the moon in Fu-chou (Fuxian county, Shaanxi province). He feels sorrowful because his children, so small and so far away from him, will not understand why they should remember Ch’ang-an (Xi’an, Shaanxi province). At this point, half of the poem is already over, and it seems that...
[The entire page is 1560 words long]
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