the golden rosette of reality
“The Naz is a-talkin’ and a-swingin’ with how pretty the hour, how pretty the flower, how pretty you, how pretty she, how pretty the tree—Naz had them pretty eyes, wanted ever’body to see to pin the golden rosette of reality—and they is havin’ such a wailin’, swingin’, glorianna style stompin’ hike that before you know it, it was scoffin’ time and these poor cats is forty miles outa town, ain’t nobody got the first biscuit! ‘We wuz diggin’ so hard what you wuz puttin’ down, Naz, we didn’t PRE-pare. We goofed!’”
—Lord Buckley, describing the Nazz’s Feeding of the Five Thousand, of course. As quoted in The Hip: Hiptsters, Jazz and the Beat Generation, by Roy Carr, Brian Case and Fred Dellar, 1986.
in the moonlight
“Await in the moonlight at the Wester Chamber,
Where the door stands half opened by the breeze.
While the shadows of the flowers move on the wall,
The Precious One may be coming!”
—Hsi Hsiang Chi, from The Romance of the Western Chamber, translated by S.I. Hiung, 1936.
The Silver River
“In the clear sky, there is not a speck of cloud;
The Silver River casts its gentle light;
The moon shines brightly in the sky,
And the shadows of the flowers fill the courtyard.”
—Hsi Hsiang Chi, from The Romance of the Western Chamber, translated by S.I. Hiung, 1936.
faded leaves
“When we last met the red petals of the flowers were falling like rain on the green moss.
After we had separated, the faded leaves lay scattered in the evening mist.”
—Hsi Hsiang Chi, from The Romance of the Western Chamber, translated by S.I. Hiung, 1936.
tears of blood
“The tears of blood with flow from my eyes are as red as the azalea.”
—Hsi Hsiang Chi, from The Romance of the Western Chamber, translated by S.I. Hiung, 1936.
Lustrous and pure
“The jade hair-pin is thin and long like a bamboo shoot,
Delicate and white like an onion stalk,
Beautifully soft and smooth,
Lustrous and pure without a flaw.”
—Hsi Hsiang Chi, from The Romance of the Western Chamber, translated by S.I. Hiung, 1936.
the far green hills
“When you ask why I dwell here docile among the far green hills, I laugh in my heart. My heart is happy.”
—Li Po, from The Jade Flute: Chinese Poems in Prose, a Peter Pauper Press Book, published in 1960.
a mirror
“With this I send a mirror. . . . It is pure round and it is clear white, to remind you of the moon we gazed at when we were last together in the garden.”
—The emperor’s favorite, Pan Tie tsu, from The Jade Flute: Chinese Poems in Prose, a Peter Pauper Press Book, published in 1960.
black pearls
“Over the mist the sun sets far off in heaven. Only the hills are red: field, hollow and lake are blue with shadow.
Now islands in the lake are black pearls set in amethyst. Now that wooded hill, a head of waving woman’s hair, is black. And see, a crescent comb of silver moon.
Sad and happy, I pick up my lute and sing until the stars grow pale.”
—Tsiang-Tien, from The Jade Flute: Chinese Poems in Prose, a Peter Pauper Press Book, published in 1960.
in the moonbeam
“Gold, silver and gold
All you can hold is in the moonbeam
Poor, no one is poor
Long as love is sure on the street of dreams.”
—from Street Of Dreams, words & music by Victor Young & Samuel Lewis. Recorded by The Ink Spots in 1939 and by Peggy Lee in 1956.