Li Shangyin 李商隱
mid-9th century · Tang China · Chang'e is the woman said to have stolen her husband's elixir of immortality, fled to the moon, and lived there alone
On the mica screen the candle's shadow deepens; the long river of stars sinks slowly, the morning star goes down. Chang'e must regret stealing the elixir: blue sea, blue sky, and her heart, night after night.
雲母屏風燭影深，長河漸落曉星沈。
常娥應悔偷靈藥，碧海青天夜夜心。"Chang'e," in the Complete Tang Poems
More from Li Shangyin · #sleepless
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Nameless singers 蔓橫淸類 無名氏
before 1728 · Joseon Korea
Sigh, thin little sigh, through what crack do you get in? A lattice door, a slatted door, a sliding door, a swinging door, hinges male and female, hook and staple knocked in tight, the dragon-and-turtle lock fastened fast; do you fold like a screen and roll up like a scroll? Through what crack do you get in? Somehow, on the nights you come, I cannot sleep.
한숨아 셰한숨아 네 어ᄂᆡ 틈으로 드러온다
고모장ᄌᆞ 셰살장ᄌᆞ 가로다지 여다지에 암돌져귀 수돌져귀 ᄇᆡ목걸새 뚝닥 박고 龍 거북 ᄌᆞ물쇠로 수기수기 ᄎᆞ엿ᄂᆞᆫ듸 屛風이라 덜걱 져븐 簇子ㅣ라 ᄃᆡᄃᆡ글 ᄆᆞᆫ다 네 어ᄂᆡ 틈으로 드러온다
어인지 너 온 날 밤이면 ᄌᆞᆷ 못 드러 ᄒᆞ노라A long sijo (saseol sijo), in Cheonggu yeongeon (1728)
Yi Jonyeon 李兆年
14th century (recorded in a songbook of 1728) · Goryeo Korea
The moon is white on the pear blossom and the Milky Way stands at the third watch. Could the cuckoo know the spring feeling in one branch? To feel so much is a kind of sickness too, and I cannot sleep.
梨花에 月白ᄒᆞ고 銀漢이 三更인 제
一枝 春心을 子規ㅣ야 아라마ᄂᆞᆫ
多情도 病이 냥ᄒᆞ여 ᄌᆞᆷ 못 드러 ᄒᆞ노라"Dajeongga," in Cheonggu yeongeon (1728)
The Mother of Michitsuna 藤原道綱母
955 · Heian Japan · A poem sent, pinned to a faded chrysanthemum, the morning after she refused to open the gate to a husband coming from another woman
Do you know how long it is, the time till dawn, on a night spent sighing and sleeping alone?
嘆きつつひとり寝る夜のあくるまはいかに久しきものとかは知るKagero Diary (Kagero nikki)
1 in 100 Billion · The social network of those who came before us