Home › Poems › Moonlit Night

Yuè YèMoonlit Night 月夜

Liu Fangping (刘方平, also known as Liu Fang-p'ing)｜Mid Tang｜seven-character quatrain

Late at night under a slanting moon, insect sounds announce the warmth of spring.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

更深月色半人家
gēng shēn yuè sè bàn rén jiā

北斗阑干南斗斜
běi dǒu lán gān nán dòu xié

今夜偏知春气暖
jīn yè piān zhī chūn qì nuǎn

虫声新透绿窓纱
chóng shēng xīn tòu lǜ chuāng shā

Simplified characters; traditional title: 月夜.

Deep in the night, moonlight lights half of each house;

the Northern Dipper slants, the Southern Dipper tilts.

Tonight, of all nights, I sense the warmth of spring:

insect song comes fresh through the green window gauze.

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

更深月色半人家 · gēng shēn yuè sè bàn rén jiā — Deep in the night, moonlight lights half of each house;

北斗阑干南斗斜 · běi dǒu lán gān nán dòu xié — the Northern Dipper slants, the Southern Dipper tilts.

今夜偏知春气暖 · jīn yè piān zhī chūn qì nuǎn — Tonight, of all nights, I sense the warmth of spring:

虫声新透绿窓纱 · chóng shēng xīn tòu lǜ chuāng shā — insect song comes fresh through the green window gauze.

Late at night under a slanting moon, insect sounds announce the warmth of spring. The scene stays with you.

Late at night under a slanting moon, insect sounds announce the warmth of spring.

Liu Fangping wrote delicate night and moon poems.

Lifetime: Mid Tang. Other famous works: Moonlit Night (月夜).