English Rendering
Today, with these flowers before me, I'll drink!
Don't mind if I have a couple more—ah! getting mellow—
If only—if only they wouldn't say: "Our bloom is not for you, old man!"
With Peonies in Bloom
- Poetry of Liu Yuxi
《饮酒看牡丹》
Original Text (中文原文)
今日花前饮，甘心醉数杯。
但愁花有语，不为老人开。
Analysis & Context
his poem was likely composed during Liu Yuxi's later years in Luoyang. During the Taihe era (827–835) of Emperor Wenzong, this "Poetic Hero," who had endured the failure of the Yongzhen Reform, exile to Langzhou and Lianzhou, and postings to Kui and He Prefectures, finally settled in Luoyang as the Crown Prince's Guest with duties in the Eastern Capital. A lifetime of hardships and repeated banishments never bowed his head in his poetry.
Reader's Companion
The Essence of the Verse
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.
Reading Between the Lines
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.
- Gazing at Lake Dongting
- Waves Sifting Sand I
- Willow Branch Song
- Willow Branch Song I
- The Taoist Temple Revisited
- The Flower-admirers
- The Summit Temple
- <Prelude to Water Melody> Sent to Ziyou on Mid-autumn Festival
- Invitation to Wine
- Question and Answer in the Mountains
- Cold sheet
- Coming Home ( Returning Home )
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