While Visiting on the South Stream the Taoist Priest Chang
- Poetry of Liu Changqing

《寻南溪常山道人隐居》

- Last updated: 2024-04-25 12:09:17

中文原文

一路经行处，莓苔见履痕。

白云依静渚，春草闭闲门。

过雨看松色，随山到水源。

溪花与禅意，相对亦忘言。

English Translation

Walking along a little path,

I find a footprint on the moss,

A while cloud low on the quiet lake,

Grasses that sweeten an idle door,

A pine grown greener with the rain,

A brook that comes from a mountain source --

And, mingling with Truth among the flowers,

I have forgotten what to say.

Five-character-regular-verse

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