Early Spring
- Poetry of Bai Juyi
Snow melts with warm air coming down;
Ice thaws in sunlight’s golden crown.
What spring cannot do, tell me where?
The frost that silvers but my hair.
The precise date of this short poem's composition is difficult to determine, but its profound insight into life's rhythms and its tranquil contemplation of personal aging mark it as a work from Bai Juyi's middle or later years, composed after he had gained a clear-sighted understanding of worldly affairs. By this time, the poet had weathered the storms of an official career and entered the autumn of his life. This brief work uses the signs of early spring as a mirror, reflecting the acute tension between nature's eternal cycle of renewal and the singular, irreversible path of an individual life towards decline. Within twenty characters, it offers a concise, philosophical reflection on time, life, and reconciling oneself to reality.
雪散因和气，冰开得暖光。
春销不得处，唯有鬓边霜。
- Why Chinese poems is so special?
- The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
- How to read a Chinese poem?
- Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.