Liu Han [Song Dynasty]

Milk crows cawing and scattering the jade screen empty, a pillow of new cool a fan of wind.

There is no place to find the sound of autumn when you sleep, and the moon is bright in the moonlight on the steps.

Translation

The little crow's song is a crow's ear, and when the sound of the crows disperses, there is only the jade-colored screen standing empty and lonely. When the autumn wind blew, I felt fresh and cool on my pillow, as if someone was fanning it with a silk fan by my bedside.

Sleeping hazily heard the autumn wind outside, but woke up to look for, but could not find anything, only to see the fall of the steps full of sycamore leaves, bathed in the bright moonlight.

Notes

Liqiu (立秋): one of the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar, and is usually regarded in China as the beginning of autumn.

Milk Crow: young crow.

Crowing and scattering: cawing and flying apart.

Jade Screen Empty: the house appears empty.

The sound of autumn: the sound of the trees being blown by the west wind in autumn.

No place to seek: nowhere to be found.

The phrase "full of steps": full of sycamore leaves. It is said that at the beginning of autumn, the leaves of the sycamore are the first to fall.