An Autumn Twilight Poem by East Sea Fairy Xing Yi

By LIU-Yong Translated by East Sea Fairy

An autumnal twilight
bumps into a down-pouring heavy rain.
The crystal-clear raindrops sparkling and bright,
with might and main,
splash the withered lotus flowers in the ponded terrain.
After the cat-and-dog rainfall, the cold Moon climbs high in the air
and the sky clears up again.
The pond where lovebirds usually perch in a pair
stands all the more open, cold and bare.

All alone there
leaning against the balustrade,
looks at the pond view with a sad stare
the melancholy maid,
dismayed and depression weighed.
What a miserable mood to sleep through the lonesome night!
Depressed and dismayed,
she teases the caged parrot without delight,
and complains to it about her yearning for her Mr. right.