Thoughts of Old Time From a Night-mooring Under Mount Niu-zhu
- Poetry of Li Bai (Li Po)

《夜泊牛渚怀古》
Thoughts of Old Time From a Night-mooring Under Mount Niu-zhu by Li Bai (Li Po)
English Translation

This night to the west of the river-brim

There is not one cloud in the whole blue sky,

As I watch from my deck the autumn moon,

Vainly remembering old General Xie....

I have poems; I can read;

He heard others, but not mine.

...Tomorrow I shall hoist my sail,

With fallen maple-leaves behind me.

Five-character-regular-verse

Composed during Li Bai's nighttime mooring at Ox-Jaw (Niuzhu), a historic site on the Yangtze associated with the Eastern Jin literati Yuan Hong and General Xie Shang. Legend tells how Xie Shang, moved by Yuan's poetic recitation here, became his patron and launched his career. On this same moonlit autumn night, Li Bai finds no such patron, left only to lament his unrecognized genius through poignant historical analogy.

中文原文( Chinese )

牛渚西江夜，青天无片云。

登舟望秋月，空忆谢将军。

余亦能高咏，斯人不可闻。

明朝挂帆席，枫叶落纷纷。

- Last updated: 2025-09-29 17:48:30
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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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