A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/Flowers and Moonlight on the Spring River

by Arthur Waley

FLOWERS AND MOONLIGHT ON THE SPRING RIVER

By Yang-ti [605–617], emperor of the Sui dynasty

The evening river is level and motionless —
The spring colours just open to their full.
Suddenly a wave carries the moon^[1] away
And the tidal water comes with its freight of stars.^[1]

 

1. I.e., the reflection in the water.