Snowy Fishing Pavilion
- Poetry of Jiang Kui
The icy wind sweeps the railings, snow falls without end;
Melancholy—no one holds the fishing rod.
Now and then an official boat passes the bridge—
White gulls take flight, alighting on the sandbank ahead.
Composed during the Southern Song Dynasty while Jiang Kui was traveling in Hefei—a place entwined not only with his wanderings but also with a profound romantic past. Here, the poet shared a deep bond with a courtesan, their time together becoming an indelible dream that lingered throughout his life. Beauty faded, love remained unfulfilled, and after their parting, no word came again. Only the remnants of snow at the river pavilion and the distant silhouettes of gulls stirred the sorrow buried in his heart. This poem is an elegy for those bygone days, a vessel for his tender yet desolate emotions.
阑干风冷雪漫漫，惆怅无人把钓竿。
时有官船桥畔过，白鸥飞去落前滩。
- 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.
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