When will the moon come full again?
I raise my winecup asking the sky
In heaven’s terms, what year is it up there?
I wish to ride the wind back to where I came from
Yet I dread the cold at the height!
So I dance in the shade of my dream instead
Which seems to be much warmer than the flight
The moon lingers near the red eaves tonight
Peeking through my fringed window and robbing me of sleep
I know I shouldn’t be resentful
Yet why the moon has to be so full, always at times while we’re apart?
This earthly life is made up of joy and sorrow, reunion and farewell
And the moon keeps cycling through phases as well
It has been this way since forever!
May we all live long and well
And gaze at the same moon thousand miles away
~ Translated by Dot, from Su Shi’s “Lyrics To the Melody of Water,” written on a full-moon night in the Song dynasty
明月几时有？把酒问青天。不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年。我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人间。
转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。
~ 蘇軾 (宋代) <<水調歌頭>>
Buddha Mind 