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Response to Yan Cheng's Poem "The Autumn Night"

Han, Hung (He passed the Advanced Exam in 754 A. D.)

The tall bamboo welcomed the early wind.
The moonlight rippled in this empty city.
The lonely wild goose flew across the autumn Milky Way.
The pounding pestle 1 reached a thousand homes like a night bell.
I suspected that it was late.
I felt very tired.
However, I enjoyed reading your elegant poem so much
That I did not even notice the raven's caw at dawn.




1 In ancient China, people washed coats and quilts in September to prepare for the winter. They put their dirty laundry in a wash bucket and then pounded it with a pestle so that the water could soak into the heavy material evenly.