Autumn Thoughts (Bai Juyi and me)

  

Every day for the last two weeks, weather permitting, the blue jays have come to feast on the sunflowers, pecking away until they were all but stripped bare of seeds; and all the while the sunflowers held their ground unflinchingly, only yielding begrudgingly, like Prometheus chained to the rock.  Until today, wan and haggard, the sunflowers finally appear to be on the verge of collapse. 

There’s no longer any point in denying that the change of season is upon us.

So here to celebrate autumn’s arrival is my translation of a poem by Bai Juyi

Autumn Thoughts

Bai Juyi

The moon shines down

Upon the north chamber

Brightness fills the courtyard

Illuminating the steps

A cool breeze stirs

From the west

Now the green world prepares

For days and nights

Of decline and rest

The paulownia and willow

Will slowly diminish their shade

The orchids and lilies will swoon

Into the tangled undergrowth  

Such things warrant

Close personal study   

At least my heart

Is inclined that way

Contentment may endure

Even as strength declines

Everything rises and falls

In Heaven’s appointed sequence

Thus a lifetime passes

Like sparks emitted by a flint

Pleasure comes frequently

Even as the hardship returns

秋怀

 白居易

月出照北堂

光华满阶墀

凉风从西至

草木日夜衰

桐柳减绿阴

蕙兰消碧滋

感物私自念

我心亦如之

安得长少壮

盛衰迫天时

人生如石火

为乐常苦迟

*  *  *  *  *

With many thanks to my friend Steve Zhang for helping me better understand the last verse!