王中立《感事》(其三)
“Musing on Things (No. 3)” by Wang Zhongli (fl. 13th-14th century) [1]
長夜漫漫夢不成, In the long night dragging endlessly, dreams elude [me].
可堪凉月透疎櫺。 How to bear the cold moon that shines through the sparse latticework!
唾壺敲碎無人語, Knocking the spittoon into pieces, with no one to speak to, [2]
獨坐空堦看曉星。[3] [I] sit alone on the empty steps, gazing upon the stars at dawn.
*From Song Gongchuan 宋公傳 (fl. 15th century) ed., Yuanshi tiyao 元詩體要, Wenyuange Siku Quanshu 文淵閣四庫全書 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1987) edition, vol.1372, 14.12a: https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=59997&page=93.
[1] Little is known about this poet except for a few poems included in anthologies of Yuan dynasty poetry.
[2] This line alludes to the anecdote about Wang Dun 王敦 (266-324) chanting a poem by Cao Cao 曹操 (155-220) to a beat on a spittoon and breaking its rim. As the poem by Cao Cao sings of a hero’s ambitions despite his old age, phrases like “knocking the spittoon”, “broken rim of the spittoon”, etc. are often associated with poetic chanting about ambitions, especially as a lament for unfulfilled dreams. By knocking the spittoon “into pieces”, the poet goes a step further than Wang Dun in the anecdote and thereby strengthens the melancholic tone.
[3] Red characters rhyme.
Two ceramic spittoons from the Eastern Jin (317-420) dynasty, both no more than 14 cm in height
Image credit: The Palace Museum, Beijing
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