Green, O green is the willow, placid, peaceful the flow;
Hark and I hear on the river, songs from my love, my beau.
To the east, the sun is up, to the west, drizzles persist;
Though they say the sun is naught, to me, the sun is aglow.
Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong (Huang Hongfa)
杨柳青青江水平，闻郎江上唱歌声。
东边日出西边雨，道是无晴却有晴。
This poem is a work by the famous Tang Dynasty female poet Liu Yu-xi, depicting a scene in which a young girl waits by the river for her lover’s return on a spring day. Through delicate descriptions, the poem reveals the girl's expectations of love and the emotional changes she experiences, filled with the vitality of life and the romance of youth.
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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