Another Poem Translation

I've done another Yu Xuanji poem translation today. Tang Dynasty poetry goes so hard, this one is from the 9th century.

期友人阻雨不至 - Qī Yǒurén Zǔyǔ Bù Zhì - For a friend delayed by rain who didn't arrive in time

雁魚空有信
雞黍恨無期
閉戶方籠月
褰簾已散絲
近泉鳴砌畔
遠浪漲江渚
鄉思悲秋客
愁吟五字詩

Wild geese and fish empty of messages
Chicken and millet regret a lack of a date
Shut the door, a just cage of the moon
Raising the curtain, silk already unraveling
Nearby, the sound of a spring builds a boundary
Far off, a river's wave swells over a sandbank
Home-thoughts grieve the autumn traveler
An anxious recitation, five characters to the line

NOTES:

It is arranged in parallel couplets, which construct opposing images. In line 3, a 籠月, 'cage of moon' is an interesting metaphor. The moon often has connotations of loneliness in these poems, but also it measures time, keeping with the theme of a set meeting time that could not be kept. In line 4, 褰 'to raise', which is used with the curtain, carries an extra connotation as well: this verb is typically used for raising skirts or disrobing.

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