obliterated your departing figure,

but not your horse’s neigh.

Against the satin valance

painted with flying golden kingfishers,

a perfumed candle dissolves in tears.

Amid withering flowers and weeping cuckoos,

appears a green-shaded window,

still lost in dream.

A considerable number of Wen Tingyun’s poems are in ci form, set to specific tunes. They are not part of the titles, merely indicating something like a Petrarchan sonnet or Shakespearean sonnet in terms of versification.

Water-Hourglass

(To the Tune of Genglouzi)

Wen Tingyun (812–870)

The willow shoots long, the spring rain light,

Beyond the flowers, the water-hourglass

Drip, drop by drop –

Distantly, flushing the wild geese

at the frontier and the birds

on the ancient city wall,

but not the golden partridge

painted on the screen here.

The thin mist of the incense comes

through the embroidered curtain.

Overlooking the pond, her room is wrapped

in solitude. Against a red candle,

behind the brocade valence hung low,

her dream is long, unknown to him.

Thousands of Woes

(To the Tune of Dream of the South)

Wen Tingyun (812–870)

Thousands of woes!

And the saddest woe comes

when he chooses to stay far,

far away, at another end

of the world. The moon shining

above the mountains does not know

the worry in my heart. The breeze

rippling the water, petals keep falling

in vain. Obliquely, the azure clouds

start swaying, swaying.

Fragrance from the Jade Burner

(To the Tune of Genglouzi)

Wen Tingyun (812–870)

Fragrance from the jade burner,

tear drops from the red candles,

come reflecting her autumn thought,

stubbornly, in the superb room.

The mascara fading thin,

the cloud-like hair disheveled,

the night is so long, and the quilt,

the pillows feel chilly.

The Chinese parasol tree,

the rain tapping at midnight,

there’s no telling the sadness

of separation. One leaf

after another falling,

one pattering after another

beating on the empty steps

till the arrival of dawn.

Red Promenade Skirt

Wu Zetian (624–705)

Missing you in tears, day

and night, I am so devastated,

seeing scarlet as green in a trance –

Unbelievable, I take out the red

promenade skirt from the trunk

to double-check the color.