The Double Ninth Festival

Li Ching ChaoLi Ching Chao

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To the tune of "Intoxicated Under the Shadow of Flowers"Light mists and heavy clouds,
melancholy the long dreary day.In the golden censer
the burning incense is dying away.It is again time
for the lovely Double-Ninth Festival;The coolness of midnight
penetrates my screen of sheer silk
and chills my pillow of jade.
After drinking wine at twilight
under the chrysanthemum hedge,My sleeves are perfumed
by the fragrance of the plants.Oh, I cannot say it is not endearing,Only, when the west wind stirs the curtain,
I see that I am more gracile
than the yellow flowers.
Li Ching Chao
About the poet

Li Ching Chao

1084 - 1151/ChinaLi Ch'ing Chao was born into a literary family and became an antiquarian, book collector, and calligrapher. Of her six original volumes of lyrics, only about 50 lyrics remain. In Stephen Owen's chapter, "The Snares of Memory," it concentrates…

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