Gone is the guest from the Chamber of Rank,
And petals, confused in my little garden,
Zigzagging down my crooked path,
Escort like dancers the setting sun.
Oh, how can I bear to sweep them away?
To a sad-eyed watcher they never return.
Heart's fragrance is spent with the ending of spring
And nothing left but a tear-stained robe.
Poem translator: Kiang Kanghu
高阁客竟去，小园花乱飞。
参差连曲陌，迢递送斜晖。
肠断未忍扫，眼穿仍欲归。
芳心向春尽，所得是沾衣。
Five-character-regular-verse
Composed in 846 AD (the sixth year of Huichang era), this poem was written during the poet's forced seclusion in Yongle after political ostracism. Having married Wang Maoyuan's daughter, he faced persecution from the Niu faction. Amid political frustration and personal rootlessness, the poet projects his grief onto falling petals - lamenting both spring's departure and his own thwarted career.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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