"The moon is setting, the crows are crying, the sky is covered with frost, the river maples and fishing fires are facing melancholy" describes the late autumn night scene.
Original poem:
The moon is setting, the crows are crying, the sky is full of frost, the river maples are fishing and the fire is facing melancholy.
At Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City, the bell rang at midnight to reach the passenger ship.
Translation:
The moon has set, the crows are crows and the sky is filled with cold air, and I sleep sadly in front of the maple trees and fishing fires by the river.
In the lonely and quiet Hanshan Ancient Temple outside Suzhou City, the sound of ringing bells in the middle of the night reached the passenger ship.
Source: "Night Mooring at Maple Bridge" by Zhang Ji of the Tang Dynasty
Appreciation of "Night Mooring at Maple Bridge"
The sentence "The moon falls and the crows cry" comes from Cao Cao's " The star in the moon is sparse, and the crows fly south", but the opposite meaning is used. Cao's poem uses the brightness of the moonlight to scare the magpies flying south, while Zhang's poem uses the setting of the moon and the change of light from bright to dark to cause the crows to fly south. Sigh, all those who have subtle bodies can be said to be painting masters, those who are good at using light.
The "moonfall" not only caused the crows to crow, but also suddenly made the previously inconspicuous white frost appear dazzling. This is another layer of light and dark changes. The second sentence uses a close-up view of the red maple leaves, paired with the faintly flickering fishermen’s lights in the distance. On the hoarfrost-covered background, the red of the autumn night is dyed in such a brilliant way! And all of this is covered with a hint of light. A touch of homesickness and sadness.