Villager's Song III
- Poetry of Liu Zongyuan
Old road overgrown with thorn,
Winding through the ruin's scorn.
Amethyst blooms cloak the shore,
Marsh gleams colder than before.
Harvest done, the woodcutters pass,
Sunset stains their loads with brass.
Wind-combed willows stand threadbare,
Frost-jeweled pears perfume the air.
Wanderers pause at crossroads' sign,
Birds rush to roost in frantic line.
The old farmer grins his creed:
"Mind dark paths—and take my heed:
This year's luck gave modest cheer,
Never scorn coarse porridge here."
The concluding piece of Liu Zongyuan's agrarian triptych diverges from the first poem's labor chronicle and the second's tax protest, offering instead a quiet vignette of autumn's end. Composed during the poet's southern exile (post-805 AD) or Liuzhou governorship (post-815), it captures an accidental encounter with a peasant elder whose contentment in modest harvests reveals the resilient dignity of those who "plow the field of fate" (耕命之田). Where earlier verses exposed systemic cruelty, this poem finds solace in the texture of rural life—its muted colors and unassuming wisdom.
古道饶蒺藜，萦回古城曲。
蓼花被堤岸，陂水寒更绿。
是时收获竟，落日多樵牧。
风高榆柳疏，霜重梨枣熟。
行人迷去住，野鸟竞栖宿。
田翁笑相念，昏黑慎原陆。
今年幸少丰，无厌饘与粥。
- 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.