A Feast of Lanterns

In spring
for sheer delight
I set the lanterns swinging through the trees, swinging,
Bright as the argosies of night,
That ride the clouded billows of the sky

Red dragons leap and plunge
in gold and silver seas.
And o,
o my garden,
gleaming fair, fair and white
Fairer than arogsies of night,
That ride the clouded billows of the sky

And o my garden
gleaming fair and white
You are fairer than all the argosies of night
You have out shone the far, faint moon on high
In spring!

Yuan Mei (1715-1797)