Spring Lament
- Poetry of Liu Fangping
At dawn the last orioles join my lonely cry,
I raise the screen—see but grass stretching far and nigh.
The east wind sweeps at times through the courtyard bare,
A thousand willow branches bend their heads west with care.
This poem was written during the mid-Tang Dynasty. Liu Fangping lived largely in reclusion and faced a troubled official career; his poetry often drew from nature and the inner lives of women. This work employs a "persona" technique—the poet speaks in a woman’s voice, using her perspective and emotions to convey longing. During the Tang, frontier wars were frequent, with husbands stationed far west for long periods, leaving wives alone at home. Thus, poems of "boudoir longing" became common. Though brief, this poem uses morning sights and sounds to express a woman’s deep yearning for her absent husband.
朝日残莺伴妾啼，开帘只见草萋萋。
庭前时有东风入，杨柳千条尽向西。
- 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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