Late Spring
- Poetry of Han Yu

《晚春》

- Last updated: 2024-03-24 22:17:31

中文原文

草树知春不久归，百般红紫斗芳菲。

杨花榆荚无才思，惟解漫天作雪飞。

English Translation

The plants all know that spring will soon return,

All kinds of red and purple contend in beauty.

The poplar blossom and elm seeds are not beautiful,

They can only fill the sky with flight like snow.

By Han Yu

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.

List of Chinese poets