On a Cold Night, I Hear the Child, Xue Yangtao, Playing the Flute (霜夜听小童薛阳陶吹笛) by Li Deyu (李德裕)

Checking the scriptures, I search for characters of green
Relying on wine, I view countenances of red

The gent notices not the autumnal hill’s silence at the harsh wind’s rest
At midnight, the verdant cliff spits out the luminescent moon

Cold light suddenly shows between the pines and thin reeds of bamboo
An endless cacophony of sussuration issues henceforth

Abruptly, the guan sings, the northern wind chants
And the spirit wants inside the remote stones.


Original Text

检经求绿字,凭酒借红颜。
君不见秋山寂历风飙歇,半夜青崖吐明月。
寒光乍出松筱间,万籁萧萧从此发。
忽闻歌管吟朔风,精魂想在幽岩中。

Translator’s Notes
The hardest part about this poem was figuring out what the title was.



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