Quiet Night Thoughts
《静夜思》 · Li Bai · Tang dynasty
床前明月光
chuáng qián míng yuè guāng
Before my bed, the bright moon's light —疑是地上霜
yí shì dì shàng shuāng
I take it for frost upon the ground.举头望明月
jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè
I raise my head and gaze at the bright moon,低头思故乡
dī tóu sī gù xiāng
I lower my head and think of home.
chuáng qián míng yuè guāng
Before my bed, the bright moon's light —疑是地上霜
yí shì dì shàng shuāng
I take it for frost upon the ground.举头望明月
jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè
I raise my head and gaze at the bright moon,低头思故乡
dī tóu sī gù xiāng
I lower my head and think of home.
Mode yǔ modeForm square formInstrumentation xiāo + guqinTempo ♩=60
A scholarly translation
So bright a gleam on the foot of my bed —
Could there have been a frost already?
Lifting myself to look, I found that it was moonlight.
Sinking back again, I thought suddenly of home.
“In the Quiet Night”, tr. Witter Bynner, The Jade Mountain (1929). Public domain.
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Author’s commentary
Li Bai · Inspiration Seed 314159 ("Reed Bank Air") · yǔ mode · xiāo + guqin · ♩=60 · phrase-end breathing ornamentation · all 16 checks passed (pre-ornamentation)
The yǔ mode is subdued and inward; at ♩=60 the xiāo and the guqin sing it slowly. Motifs return, the dynamics build by degrees, and every line is given room to breathe — a short song of homesickness held in the juxtaposition of frost and moonlight.