Yearning
- Poetry of Li Bai (Li Po)

《三五七言》

- Last updated: 2024-03-20 14:43:21

中文原文

秋风清，秋月明，

落叶聚还散，寒鸦栖复惊。

相思相见知何日？此时此夜难为情！

English Translation

Fresh autumn breeze,

Bright autumn moon.

Fallen leaves gather and scatter around the trees;

Cold-stricken crows soon fall asleep and wake as soon.

I long for you. When can I see you? On which day?

How can I bear this lonely night? What can I say?

By Li Bai (Li Po)

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