On the Black River Pavilion
- Poetry of Du Mu
《题乌江亭》
English Translation
A hero can't foretell victory or defeat.
Why should a loser not stand again on his feet?
There are so many talents on the Southern shore.
Who dare say, once defeated, he can't win the war?
This poem was written by Du Mu in the first year of the Huichang era (841 CE) when he was appointed the governor of Chizhou. While passing by Wujiang Pavilion, Du Mu reflected on the historical Chu-Han War, using the defeat of Xiang Yu as a starting point to express his thoughts on the vicissitudes of history and individual fate, and to ponder the heroism and failure.
中文原文( Chinese )
胜败兵家事不期，包羞忍耻是男儿。
江东子弟多才俊，卷土重来未可知。
Pre： Ruined Splendor
- 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.