霜崖待曙 · Waiting for Dawn on the Frost-Covered Cliff

An original 古風 song for day twenty-one — a mountain hermit seated on a frost-covered cliff at the fifth watch before dawn, watching the last sliver of moon sink behind distant snow peaks. The moon is not present; it is leaving. The darkness that falls after the moon vanishes — the hour when the world is at its coldest and most absolute — is the song's emotional centre. Pipa opens alone with low, sparse plucks like footsteps on stone; erhu enters to carry the interior ache; xiao adds mountain wind breath through the bridge; guqin holds a deep undertone through the chorus. When the first thread of dawn appears on the eastern ridge in the final verse, it arrives not as triumph but as quiet confirmation: the waiting was its own reward.

Theme: Moonlit longing (round 5)

[引子] 崖石冷，松聲遠， 五更霜重欲壓衣。 月將沉，峰已暗， 萬里寒天獨對歸。

[主歌一] 石上坐，忘歲月， 衣上霜華已半白。 山風起，松影亂， 殘月斜入崖間石。 遠峰收了最後一絲白， 天色深，如墨漸浸來。 此去月色不回頭， 只餘岩上霜滿懷。

[副歌] 霜崖月落，天未開， 黑暗比曙光先來。 我守此石不問誰， 只候那一線天邊白。 霜崖月落，夜最深， 萬山無聲入我懷。 此刻無人共此寂， 月去山空，心自在。

[主歌二] 回首處，燈已滅， 山下人家夢正酣。 無所待，無所怨， 坐破虛空成石頭。 松聲落，又復起， 如問我心答與不答。 月已沉，冬峰黑， 曙色從何方漸生來？

[副歌] 霜崖月落，天未開， 黑暗比曙光先來。 我守此石不問誰， 只候那一線天邊白。 霜崖月落，夜最深， 萬山無聲入我懷。 此刻無人共此寂， 月去山空，心自在。

[尾聲] 忽見東嶺，微微白， 一點寒光破霜天。 月已無蹤問何處， 原來藏入曉霞間。 霜崖冷，心已靜， 等了一夜，天終開。