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Tang Dynasty Lüshi Zhang Jiuling

Looking at the Moon, Thinking of You Far Away

望月懷遠

Wàng Yuè Huái Yuǎn

Zhang Jiuling's shared moon becomes a light the speaker cannot send, carrying a sleepless night from the sea's horizon back to a hoped-for dream.

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Read the original and its translation together. Open a line’s word meanings for a closer look.

About the text and pronunciation

The simplified view changes character forms, not the edition. Notes and sources retain the cited text.

The Chinese source is shown in traditional characters by default, with a simplified view available. Pinyin is modern standard Mandarin, a reading aid, not Tang or Song pronunciation.

Word by word, in the order of the line. A gloss is a crib. It is not the translation.

01

海上生明月，

hǎi shàng shēng míng yuè

Above the sea a bright moon rises;

Word meanings — Line 1
  1. 海 hǎi sea
  2. 上 shàng above
  3. 生 shēng rises
  4. 明 míng bright
  5. 月 yuè moon
02

天涯共此時。

tiān yá gòng cǐ shí

at the edges of the world we share this moment.

Word meanings — Line 2
  1. 天 tiān sky
  2. 涯 yá edge
  3. 共 gòng share
  4. 此 cǐ this
  5. 時 shí time
03

情人怨遙夜，

qíng rén yuàn yáo yè

One who loves resents the length of night,

Word meanings — Line 3
  1. 情 qíng feeling
  2. 人 rén person
  3. 怨 yuàn resent
  4. 遙 yáo long
  5. 夜 yè night
04

竟夕起相思。

jìng xī qǐ xiāng sī

longing for the absent one through all its hours.

Word meanings — Line 4
  1. 竟 jìng whole
  2. 夕 xī night
  3. 起 qǐ arises
  4. 相 xiāng mutual
  5. 思 sī longing
05

滅燭憐光滿，

miè zhú lián guāng mǎn

I put out the candle, loving the fullness of this light;

Word meanings — Line 5
  1. 滅 miè extinguish
  2. 燭 zhú candle
  3. 憐 lián cherish
  4. 光 guāng light
  5. 滿 mǎn full
06

披衣覺露滋。

pī yī jué lù zī

I draw on a robe and feel the dew gathering.

Word meanings — Line 6
  1. 披 pī drape
  2. 衣 yī clothes
  3. 覺 jué feel
  4. 露 lù dew
  5. 滋 zī moisten
07

不堪盈手贈，

bù kān yíng shǒu zèng

I cannot fill my hands with it and send it to you.

Word meanings — Line 7
  1. 不 bù cannot
  2. 堪 kān bear
  3. 盈 yíng fill
  4. 手 shǒu hands
  5. 贈 zèng give
08

還寢夢佳期。

huán qǐn mèng jiā qī

Back to bed, then—to dream of our meeting.

Word meanings — Line 8
  1. 還 huán return
  2. 寢 qǐn sleep
  3. 夢 mèng dream
  4. 佳 jiā happy
  5. 期 qī meeting

English translation by PoemWell.

Read the whole poem

Original

海上生明月，

天涯共此時。

情人怨遙夜，

竟夕起相思。

滅燭憐光滿，

披衣覺露滋。

不堪盈手贈，

還寢夢佳期。

Translation

Above the sea a bright moon rises;

at the edges of the world we share this moment.

One who loves resents the length of night,

longing for the absent one through all its hours.

I put out the candle, loving the fullness of this light;

I draw on a robe and feel the dew gathering.

I cannot fill my hands with it and send it to you.

Back to bed, then—to dream of our meeting.

Try it from memory

After reading, recall the underlined word or phrase in each line. Say its meaning before opening the answer. These prompts use the text edition printed above.

  1. Line 1 · What does the marked word mean?

    海上生明月，

    Pronunciation hint

    shēng

    Reveal meaning and translation

    生 — rises

    Above the sea a bright moon rises;

  2. Line 5 · What does the marked word mean?

    滅燭憐光滿，

    Pronunciation hint

    lián

    Reveal meaning and translation

    憐 — cherish

    I put out the candle, loving the fullness of this light;

  3. Line 8 · What does the marked word mean?

    還寢夢佳期。

    Pronunciation hint

    mèng

    Reveal meaning and translation

    夢 — dream

    Back to bed, then—to dream of our meeting.

One more question: what changes?

Compare the opening and closing lines. What changes in the scene, the speaker’s attention, or the feeling? Choose a Chinese word as evidence, then compare your reading with the notes. More than one answer may be reasonable.

Line-by-line notes →

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Line-by-line notes

Lines 1–2 · One moment across great distance

生 makes the moon rise into view above the sea. 天涯 extends the space to the far edges of the world, and 共 makes 此時, this very moment, shareable. The English “we” supplies a relationship implied by 共. The scene can hold that connection whether or not both people are actually watching.

Lines 3–4 · A night felt from within

情人 names someone with deep feeling. 遙 makes the night feel long, as though the distance between the people has entered the time the speaker must spend awake. 竟夕 carries 相思 through the entire evening. The poem passes from the instant of 此時 to the experience of enduring hours.

Lines 5–6 · Light and dampness take the measure of time

滅燭 and 披衣 are two small acts, putting out a candle and drawing on a robe. 憐光滿 makes the fullness of moonlight something the speaker cherishes. 覺露滋 then lets dampness gather in the speaker's awareness. The two lines give sight and touch their part in the experience of staying awake.

Lines 7–8 · A gift the hands cannot hold

盈手 imagines filling the hands. 贈 makes that imagined handful a gift, and the English supplies “it” for the moonlight the preceding lines put into view. 不堪 makes the offering impossible. 還, here huán, returns the speaker to bed, where 夢佳期 makes room for a dreamed meeting. Compare 共 at the beginning with 贈 at the end. Sharing a moment at a distance is possible. Passing the light from hand to hand would be another kind of connection, and it is the one the poem cannot give the speaker.

Form and tone

This five-character regulated verse moves through four couplets: shared moon, prolonged longing, nocturnal actions, and an impossible gift followed by a dream. The middle balances emotional and bodily experience. Pinyin gives modern Mandarin; historical tone categories are not asserted.

Historical context

Zhang Jiuling allows a cosmic opening to become a particular sleepless person's night. The poem offers a helpful companion to Su Shi's Water Melody: both make moonlight a form of connection, but this poem ends by acknowledging what shared light cannot physically do.

Sources

Chinese text follows the main readings of Quan Tang shi, juan 48. Punctuation is editorial. English translation and annotations are original to PoemWell.

English translation, gloss, and notes by PoemWell. The translation is original to this site.

The Chinese source is shown in traditional characters by default, with a simplified view available. Pinyin is modern standard Mandarin, a reading aid, not Tang or Song pronunciation.

Updated .

Cite this reading

Zhang Jiuling. “Looking at the Moon, Thinking of You Far Away” (望月懷遠). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .

https://poemwell.org/poems/looking-at-the-moon-thinking-of-you

Credit the poet for the Chinese original and PoemWell for this translation and commentary. Use the permanent page link above; source editions are listed separately.