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You ask when I’ll return—the when is not yet set.
Night rains on Sichuan mountains swell the autumn pools.
When shall we trim the wick of your west window candle,
While I describe night rains on Sichuan mountains?
夜雨寄北
君问归期未有期，
巴山夜雨涨秋池。
何当共剪西窗烛，
却话巴山夜雨时。
Li Shangyin spent time as an official in Sichuan (here called by an old name, Ba). The first “you” is the only explicit pronoun, though trimming the wick is also explicity done together.
I jumped ahead to a famous poem by the last great Tang poet, to see what a seven-character line feels like. First impression: looser than the five-character line, enough so it almost feels discursive.
—L.
Night rains on Sichuan mountains swell the autumn pools.
When shall we trim the wick of your west window candle,
While I describe night rains on Sichuan mountains?
夜雨寄北
君问归期未有期，
巴山夜雨涨秋池。
何当共剪西窗烛，
却话巴山夜雨时。
Li Shangyin spent time as an official in Sichuan (here called by an old name, Ba). The first “you” is the only explicit pronoun, though trimming the wick is also explicity done together.
I jumped ahead to a famous poem by the last great Tang poet, to see what a seven-character line feels like. First impression: looser than the five-character line, enough so it almost feels discursive.
—L.