The poems in Chor Lau Heung 1984

Chor tai-gor reciting the last line of 'Tale of the Magpie Bridge' (ep 13)

Ancient series are usually peppered with poems. The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung 1984 was not an exception. I could only recall three four poems from the CLH 1984, but I really like them hence I post them here. The full text of the poems can be found at the end of this post. My favourite is definitely the Tale of the Magpie Bridge, first recited by Koh A Lam (Sharon Yang) in front of Wu Tit Fa in ep 11. Later in ep 13, Wu asked Chor tai-gor about that poem, and Chor recited a part of it for Wu’s benefit. Chor Lau Heung did look pensieve though when he recited the last line (“Eternal love shall withstand the time apart”), which made me think that he was thinking of Song Siu Ching for just a few seconds there.

Tale of the Magpie Bridge is part of a famous ancient Chinese story called the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd, dated back to over 2,600 years ago, around the time of the Han Dynasty. The story involved Zhinu (the weaver girl, or the star Vega) and Niulang (the cowherd, the star Altair) whose starcrossed love made them banished such that each of them live in another side of the Silver River (the Milky Way). Once a year (7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar), magpies would form a bridge between the two lovers such that they could meet for one day.

I Dreamt (Rabindranath Tagore)

I Dreamt 

by Rabindranath Tagore

'Restful', by Pino Daeni

I dreamt that she sat by my head, tenderly ruffling my hair with
her fingers, playing the melody of her touch. I looked at her face
and struggled with my tears, till the agony of unspoken words burst
my sleep like a bubble.

I sat up and saw the glow of the Milky Way above my window,
like a world of silence on fire, and I wondered if at this moment
she had a dream that rhymed with mine.

I Asked Nothing (Rabindranath Tagore)

The Gardener XIII: I Asked Nothing

by Rabindranath Tagore

  

'Woman with a Pot' by Shashikanta Parida

I asked nothing, only stood at the edge of the wood behind the tree.
Languor was still upon the eyes of the dawn, and the dew in the air.
The lazy smell of the damp grass hung in the thin mist above the earth.
Under the banyan tree you were milking the cow with your hands,
tender and fresh as butter.

And I was standing still.
I did not say a word.

It was the bird that sang unseen from the thicket.
The mango tree was shedding its flowers upon the village road,

and the bees came humming one by one.

On the side of the pond the gate of Shiva's temple was opened and the
worshipper had begun his chants.
With the vessel on your lap you were milking the cow.

I stood with my empty can.
I did not come near you.

The sky woke with the sound of the gong at the temple.
The dust was raised in the road from the hoofs of the driven cattle.
With the gurgling pitchers at their hips, women came from the river.
Your bracelets were jingling, and foam brimming over the jar.

The morning wore on and I did not come near you.

Lotus (Rabindranath Tagore)

Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, a century ago. This is one of his poems, a favourite of mine:   

Lotus

Pic from marrymeweddings

On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying, and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.

Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.

That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing
and it seemed to me that it was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.

I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart. 

The Lover's Passion ~ Desire (Jalaluddin Rumi)

The Lover's Passion - Desire
by Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi


(original title from Deepak Chopra's CD: 'The Lover's Passion')


A lover knows only humility, he has no choice.
He steals into your alley at night, he has no choice.
He longs to kiss every lock of your hair
Don't fret,
he has no choice.
In his frenzied love for you, 
he longs to break the chains of his imprisonment,
he has no choice.

Looking for Your Face (Rumi)

The Dawn by Mahmoud Farshchian

Looking for Your Face

by Mevlana Jallaludin Rumi


From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it

Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for

Today I have found you
and those who laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did

I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you
with a hundred eyes

Hear My Prayer

Hear My Prayer
~ Moya Brennan

Hear my prayer
Bring me through the darkness, hear my heart
Draw me in
On this bright, new morning

Here I am, stay with me
Never too late to forgive
Here I am, set me free
Sing Hallelujah

Angels walk with me
Guide me to the water's edge
Wash away my doubts, my fears
Lord, strengthen me and bring me back to you

Change my heart
With a gentle touch you change my world
Hold me close
Fill my life with beauty

Hear my voice, stay with me
Bring cool water to my lips
Hear my prayer, set me free
Sing Hallelujah

Angels walk with me
Guide me to the water's edge
Wash away my doubts, my fears
Lord, strengthen me and bring me back to you

Pic: Lady Isis by Redheaded Step Child

Second Chance - Miten

Second Chance
by Miten

I hung my hat on a wishing tree
I asked for one wish - I could've had three
But I only asked for what I needed
Could've asked for money riches and wealth
But all I really wanted was to find myself
Unaccustomed as I was to seeking

And my heart whispered inside
And the moon rose and the angels sighed
And they said

Here comes your second chance
You'd better believe it
Open up and receive it
Here comes your second chance
Take a deep breath
This is your second chance

Make peace with your mother
And your father, too
Make peace with the stranger inside of you
And forgive yourself for the things you tried and failed to do
Embrace your anger, your lust and your greed
That's how we drop the things that we don't need
Pick up a musical instrument
Or plant a seed

That was my heart whispering inside
"Welcome" it said, "you're home and dry"

Here comes your second chance
You'd better believe it
Open up and receive it
Here comes your second chance
Take a deep breath
This is your second chance

Well the years went by and my wish came true
And i find myself here with you
I had to climb that mountain
There was no was around it
And we all come and go like waves in the sea
Each with our own responsibility
To leave this world more beautiful than we found it

That's your heart whispering inside
And you know your heart, it never lied

Here comes your second chance
You'd better believe it
Open up and receive it
Here comes your second chance
Take a deep breath
This is your second chance


Lyrics from Miten and Deva Premal's 'Songs for Inner Lovers'
Pic: Living Tantra Bliss

I carry your heart with me

I carry your heart with me
by E.E. Cumming

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it
(anywhere i go you go, my dear;
and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet)
i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Pic: personal collection

Red Bird Explains Herself

Red Bird Explains Herself

By Mary Oliver

If I was the song that entered your heart
then I was the music of your heart, that you wanted and needed
and thus the wilderness bloomed, with all its
followers; gardeners, lovers, people who weep
for the death of rivers

And this was my true task, to be the
music of the body.
Do you understand?
For truly the body needs
a song, a spirit, a soul. And no less, to make this work,
the soul has need of a body,
and I am both of the earth and I am of the inexplicable
beauty of heaven
where I fly so easily, so welcome, yes,
and this is why I have been sent, to teach this to your heart.

Pic: Heart Bird by Ann Whim Tseng
Special thanks to Hafiz for sending me this poem...