On New Year's Eve
- Poetry of Cui Tu

《巴山道中除夜书怀》
#Homeland #Sorrow

English Rendering

Farther and farther from the three Ba Roads,

I have come three thousand miles, anxious and watchful,

Through pale snow-patches in the jagged nightmountains --

A stranger with a lonely lantern shaken in the wind.

...Separation from my kin

Binds me closer to my servants --

Yet how I dread, so far adrift,

New Year's Day, tomorrow morning!

On New Year's Eve by Cui Tu #Homeland #Sorrow
On New Year's Eve by Cui Tu #Homeland #Sorrow

Original Text (中文原文)

迢递三巴路,羁危万里身。

乱山残雪夜,孤烛异乡春。

渐与骨肉远,转于僮仆亲。

那堪正漂泊,明日岁华新。

Analysis & Context

Five-character-regular-verse

This poem expresses the feelings of a traveler on New Year's Eve, conveying intense sorrow of separation, longing for home, and weariness of a wandering life.

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.

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