English Rendering
I was surprised my quilt and pillow were cold,
I see that now the window's bright again.
Deep in the night, I know the snow is thick,
I sometimes hear the sound as bamboo snaps.
Night Snow
- Poetry of Bai Juyi
《夜雪》
Original Text (中文原文)
已讶衾枕冷，复见窗户明。
夜深知雪重，时闻折竹声。
Analysis & Context
This poem is a snow ode in which the poet employs indirect description, depicting the ‘night snow’ through tactile, visual, sensory and auditory perspectives, thereby conveying the solitary melancholy of exile in Jiangzhou.
Reader's Companion
The Essence of the Verse
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Reading Between the Lines
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
- Yiai Temple
- Early Spring
- The Zither
- On Qiantang Lake in Spring
- Spring View in Hangzhou
- Song of Willow Branch
- The Summit Temple
- <Prelude to Water Melody> Sent to Ziyou on Mid-autumn Festival
- Invitation to Wine
- Question and Answer in the Mountains
- Cold sheet
- Coming Home ( Returning Home )
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