山居
蛬思蟬聲何切切
微風朧月兩悠悠
雲封松柏池臺舊
雨滴梧桐山寺秋
Mountain Dwelling
Cricket remarks how the cicadas’ chirp-chirping is so urgent,
While the gentle breeze and the hazy moon are idly-idly surgent;
Clouds envelope the pine and cedars, the pond and the terrace old;
Autumn rain drips on the temple’s phoenix tree—our mountainous hold.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 蛬 思 蟬 聲 何 切 切 cricket ponder cicada sound how urgent urgent qióng sī chán shēng hé qiè qiè きょう し せん しょう か せつ せつ kyou shi sen shou ka setsu setsu 微 風 朧 月 兩 悠 悠 gentle wind hazy moon both drifting drifting wēi fēng lóng yuè liǎng yōu yōu び かぜ ろう つき りょう ゆう ゆう bi kaze rou tsuki ryou yuu yuu 雲 封 松 柏 池 臺 舊 clouds envelop pines cypress pond terrace old yún fēng sōng bǎi chí tái jiù うん ふう まつ はく いけ だい きゅう un fuu matsu haku ike dai kyuu 雨 滴 梧 桐 山 寺 秋 rain drips tree tree mountain temple autumn yǔ dī wú tóng shān sì qiū あめ てき ご とう やま てら あき ame teki go tou yama tera aki 切切: “Yelp-yelp!” Heine’s first line reads: ‘How profusely the sounds of cicadas chirping are heard.’ However, I think there’s a cross-seasonal reference, with autumn crickets longing for the spring cicada’s yelping sound. Last line reads “Autumn rain” so it’s more likely that we’re hearing crickets now.
悠悠: Another tricky idiom. By itself it means “remote, leisurely”. Also means longevity. There’s a dichotomy of insects’ agitated repetition, and moon/wind’s leisurely reaching.