FALL 秋

杜牧: 遠上寒山石徑斜，白雲深處有人家。停車坐愛楓林晚，霜葉紅於二月花。

Time flies. 歲月如梭，時光荏苒。 My wife and I have been residing in Florida
since leaving Indiana ten years ago. We enjoy the luxuriant greenery all
year round. The green leaves don’t seem to change color in fall or winter
in the Sunshine State. We do miss the spectacular fall foliage in the
Midwest.

Up north, when the hot summer is slowly blown away by the breeze, here comes
the fall. Autumn signifies abundance – amber waves of grain.

麥浪金波萬里綿。 And it is embellished with gorgeous Chrysanthemum flowers.
滿園花菊鬱金黃，中有孤叢色似霜。不是花中偏愛菊，此花開盡更無花。 The fall
foliage is fabulous with the multicolor of red, yellow, orange, and brown.
樹樹皆秋色。 數樹深紅出淺黃。 “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is
a flower,” said Albert Camus.

The sun and scattered billowy white clouds artistically adorn the blue sky.
天上浮雲似白衣。 The autumn wind is blowing. 颯颯秋風生。 Wild geese in
flocks are flying south. 秋風起兮白雲飛，草木黃落兮雁南歸。長風萬里送秋雁，
對此可以酣高樓。秋空雁度青天遠，疏樹蟬嘶白露寒。The fall sunset is
awe-inspiring. 山山唯落暉。一半秋山帶夕陽。 Every now and then, a lonesome
duck seemingly flies side by side with the sunset glow in the sky which
shares a picturesque hue with the autumn lake. 落霞與孤騖齊飛，秋水共長天一
色。秋景有時飛獨鳥，夕陽無事起寒煙。晴空一鶴排雲上，便引詩思到碧霄。 John
Donne: “No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one
autumnal face.” 自古逢秋悲寂寥，我言秋日勝春朝。

At night the bright, round autumn moon seemingly shines through a thin layer
of mist in the sky. 迢迢新秋夕，亭亭月將圓。秋空明月懸，光彩露沾濕。 The
mid-autumn moon appears the most illuminant of the year. 月到中秋偏皎洁。
The full moon slowly rises from the sea with her silvery reflection casting
on the water which meets the sky at the horizon. 海上明月共潮生, 月光如水水
如天。湖光秋月兩相和。 Many famous Chinese poems regarding the moon,
particularly the mid-autumn moon, have been composed by legendary poets; and
some are pertaining to travelers’ homesickness, like most of us the
overseas Chinese. Many a night, we look up in the sky and gaze at the
luminous and silent moon; bowing our heads, we think of our hometown. 舉頭
望明月, 低頭思故鄉。露從今夜白, 月是故鄉明。明月多應在故鄉, 故鄉今夜思千里。
天涯共此時, 千里共嬋娟。

As the late autumn wind strokes the fading flowers and plants, countless
leaves fall from the trees, dancing gracefully in the air, and eventually
covering the ground like a huge thick yellow carpet. 秋天風凄凄，百花都凋
蔽。西風昨夜過園林，吹落黃花滿地金。無邊落木蕭蕭下。Autumn Leaves: “The
falling leaves drift by the window. The autumn leaves of red and gold…”

Towards the end of autumn, the temperature is progressively dropping.
Leaves have fallen and trees appear barren. 秋風蕭瑟天氣涼，草木搖落露為
霜。枯藤老樹昏鴉，小橋流水人家，古道西風瘦馬。 The elegant, fragrant lotus
flowers have faded with the presence of cold dew. 但惜秋風多，衰荷半傾倒。芙
蓉露下落, 楊柳月中疏。荷盡已無擎雨蓋，菊殘猶有傲霜枝。All these bring
forth a feeling of melancholy. 淒涼一片秋聲。悵望千秋一灑淚。The blooming of
flowers and emerging of new leaves in spring, and the fading of flowers and
falling of leaves in autumn exemplify that there is a beginning and an end
of everything in life. 生如春花之絢爛，死如秋葉之靜美。 Lin Yutang 林語堂:
“…So I like best of all autumn, because its leaves are a little yellow,
its tone mellower, its colors richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow
and a premonition of death.”

Nevertheless, autumn signifies the maturity, responsibility and mellowness
of middle age in life. We arrive at a period of golden season, which is a
season of bounteous harvest of the fruits of our labor. 春種一粒粟, 秋收萬顆
子。稻花香裏說豐年。 Samuel Butler: “Autumn is the mellower season, and what
we lose in flowers, we more than gain in fruits.” Fall is the most pleasant
and gratifying season. We enjoy the happiness and gratification of harvest.
We serenely listen to the song of autumn. And we can feel the beauty of
life.

王維: 寒山轉蒼翠，秋水日潺湲。倚杖柴門外，臨風聽暮蟬。渡頭餘落日，墟里上孤
煙。

復值接輿醉，狂歌五柳前。