On 13 September the Sheffield Confucius Institute organised our annual, sell-out Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration event with the theme 'The Moon Shines On Us All'. We were delighted with the performances and the presentations about the festival, and audience members left with smiles on their faces.
One activity in particular shone out as particularly innovative, as it engaged the local community of poets in Sheffield and Barnsley to engage with the work of renowned ancient Chinese poets through translation. The SCI gathered together poems that celebrate or are dedicated to the Mid-Autumn Festival, written by ancient poets, sourced their English translation and presented this to local poets in order for them to respond in English, essentially creating a dialogue between featured ancient poets and collaborating local poets.
The results were four beautiful poems that explored themes similar to the ancient poems, but with a contemporary twist and modern context that really felt like the poets were reaching back in time to respond to these ancient heroes of Chinese poetry. The following poems are the results of this collaboration, please enjoy!
Lisa Falshaw in dialogue with Meng Haoran 孟浩然
Original poem:
秋宵月下有怀
秋空明月悬，
光彩露沾湿。
惊鹊栖未定，
飞萤卷帘入。
庭槐寒影疏，
邻杵夜声急。
佳期旷何许，
望望空伫立。
Meng Haoran 孟浩然
-
**Translation into English**
The autumn sky holds a bright moon,
Its light moistens with dew.
Startled magpies haven’t settled in their nests,
Fireflies enter through the rolled-up curtain.
The sparse shadows of the courtyard pagoda tree are cold,
The sound of pounding at the neighbor’s door is urgent in the night.
How far off is our long-awaited meeting?
I stand and wait in vain, gazing into the distance.
-
**Response by Lisa Falshaw**
She Longs for Reconciliation
She knows when Summer slides out of view,
a trail of petals, morning birdsong, scented evenings billowing behind.
She senses Autumn slouch forward
wearing rusting leaves and misted mornings
round stooped shoulders.
She stands, palms pressed against a quiet window,
taring down into a garden as night wraps cold arms around trees,
felting them with soft shadows, hushing the screams of a fox
as candle-flame moths flicker, stitching the dark.
A door slams, hard, like a slap,
she wonders, briefly, if he has returned,
but knows he won’t.
Beyond the glass, bats sweep black wings across the moon.
Jane Sharp in dialogue with Li Bai 李白
Original poem:
月下独酌
花间一壶酒，
独酌无相亲。
举杯邀明月，
对影成三人。
月既不解饮，
影徒随我身。
暂伴月将影，
行乐须及春。
我歌月徘徊，
我舞影零乱。
醒时同交欢，
醉后各分散。
永结无情游，
相期邈云汉。
Li Bai 李白
-
**Translation into English**
Drinking Alone Under the Moon
Among the flowers, a pot of wine, I drink alone, with no friend beside.
I raise my cup to invite the moon, with my shadow, we become three.
The moon does not understand drinking, the shadow merely follows me.
But for now, moon and shadow, we'll stay together, enjoying the springtime.
I sing, the moon lingers; I dance, my shadow scatters.
While sober, we share our joy; after drinking, we go our separate ways.
Let us join in a journey without feeling, and meet again far beyond the Milky Way.
-
**Response by Jane Sharp**
You’re Never Alone in a Moonlit Bar
Swathed in pale moonlight we dance with the stars
Sweet Dionysus alive on our lips
Our shadows entangled; night’s avatars
Fused in a moment two souls with one heart
Rocking a romance in heavenly riffs
Swathed in pale moonlight we dance with the stars
Bop around planets like fluttering flowers
We jive-sail, imbibe-sail, make the ship list
Our shadows entangled; night’s avatars
Drinking wine with the moon two sotted bards
Reaching for fingertips, love in the mix
Swathed in pale moonlight we dance with the stars
We seal our warm embrace; vow not to part
And we kiss and we kiss until nothing exists
Our shadows entangled; night’s avatars
You’re never alone in a moonlit bar
Look to the Milky Way, focus on it
Swathed in pale moonlight we dance with the stars
Our shadows entangled; night’s avatars
Tessa Bruning in dialogue with Zhang Jiuling 张九龄
Original poem:
望月怀远
海上生明月，
天涯共此时。
情人怨遥夜，
竟夕起相思。
灭烛怜光满，
披衣觉露滋。
不堪盈手赠，
还寝梦佳期。
Zhang Jiuling (张九龄)
-
**Translation into English**
Looking at the Moon and Longing for Someone Afar
The bright moon rises over the sea,
At this moment, we share it from the ends of the earth.
Lovers complain of the long night,
Endlessly thinking of each other until dawn.
Blowing out the candles, I pity the full light,
Donning clothes, I feel the dampness of dew.
Unable to send you my handfuls of moonlight,
I return to bed and dream of our meeting.
-
**Response by Tessa Bruning**
Lunar Lines
The bright moon appears
at my window on the plane
At this moment, do we share it?
For me, it appears so near -
for you, so very far away...
I complain of the long flight,
Endlessly longing...
You, like this pining moon, unseen,
yet there all the while
Closing the blind, I wonder why
I left, while you remained?
Nothing then to do, but lean
into my seat, and dream,
until I wake at our inevitable
Meeting....
A poem written in inspiration of the Mid-Autumn Festival by Chaz
Endless as the Light
The clear light spreads over ten thousand miles, impossible to fathom,
Facing it, my heart fills with unspoken words,
No need to watch it greedily day and night.
Next years Mid-Autumn night, the bright moon will still be there…
But will you and I?
For the days they pass by
Bright and fast like the light
For we fade into the beauty of the recurring night
Together Singing Dancing
In flight
One day we die
But in the mean time
We rise
And though our hearts song lives and love on
What more is there for us when we are gone
What more is there for us when we are one
One with the earth
One with the light
One with our hearts
In the beautiful night
And though our hearts song lives and love on
One day we die
But together we will rise
Brighter than the day
And as endless as the light
Thank you for reading!
Take a look at the links below to read more about the SCI's recent activities and events!