Some Days Later, Roaming Again, Climbing the Stone Terrace to Enjoy the Moon後數日。復遊登石臺翫月。
Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) 東國李相國集 · Yi Gyubo · Compiled 1241 (Goryeo, 28th year of King Gojong); revised and enlarged 1251 · 1 passages · 99 Chinese characters · reading time 1 min
Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 2 The collected writings of Yi Gyubo of Goryeo, gathered and cut in woodblock by his son Yi Ham in 1241 and revised and enlarged by his grandson Yi Ikbae in 1251. It holds poems and rhapsodies, memorials and reports sent up to the king, records written for temples and pagodas, stele and tomb inscriptions, letters and prefaces, and the state letters that passed to and from the Mongols during the invasions. The Lay of King Dongmyeong, which sings the founder of Goguryeo, stands in volume 3 of the first collection, and the daily life of a man who called himself the White Cloud Layman — with his wine, his zither and his verse — fills the later collection. The book closes with the last poem he wrote as his eyes failed and he laid down the brush, and with the dirge and tomb inscription others made for him after his death.
Of enjoying the moon I have heard since olden times;
it was so even long ago — how should I fail it today?
The people of old handed the enjoying of the moon on to the people of today,
and if the people of today do not enjoy it, what of falling out with the moon?
If the moon falls out with us and comes no more to shine on us,
I fear that heaven and earth and the six directions will go dark and blind.
I set out wine with you and plot to enjoy the moon,
and the moon too, as if glad, parts the clouds and comes out.
So I know that ten thousand pupils hang upon the bright moon's essence,
and their light shoots upward and adds to its brightness.
If there were no eyes to enjoy the moon,
I fear the old clearness would grow less.
I lean on you: listen to my song of enjoying the moon,
and when the wine is gone we shall add another jar and go on to the fifth watch.