Rain and the Mountain
- Poetry of Liu Guo
O, mock not Lin Zong’s drenched and drooping hood!
The Rain God builds his fortress of despair.
Cold reeds lie still in veils of misty grey,
While gulls, surprised by autumn, skim the air.
The mountain’s strength seems spent, yet trails wind on;
The stream’s song fades—then swells in quiet grace.
With staff in hand, I’d roam where paths may lead,
As pleased as farmers beneath the rain’s embrace.
Liu Guo, a Southern Song patriot and advocate of vigorous, expansive poetry, likely composed this work during his later years of mountain reclusion. As life's pace slowed, his thoughts turned inward—transforming a thwarted mountain ascent into profound meditation on existence. The line "rain prevents climbing" captures a mundane inconvenience reframed through poetic wisdom, exemplifying how Song literati infused natural phenomena with life philosophy. Here, frustration yields to harmony with nature, revealing the poet's evolution from political anxiety to serene acceptance.
莫笑林宗折角巾，雨师坚壁助愁城。
菰蒲乍冷横烟淡，鸥路惊秋立水轻。
山势欲穷犹有路，溪流似断又闻声。
好怀聊拟携筇去，政惬农夫荷笠耕。
- 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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