A Night-mooring at Wuchang
- Poetry of Lu Lun

《晚次鄂州》

- Last updated: 2024-05-09 11:25:42

中文原文

云开远见汉阳城，犹是孤帆一日程。

估客昼眠知浪静，舟人夜语觉潮生。

三湘衰鬓逢秋色，万里归心对月明。

旧业已随征战尽，更堪江上鼓鼙声。

English Translation

Far off in the clouds stand the walls of Hanyang,

Another day's journey for my lone sail....

Though a river-merchant ought to sleep in this calm weather,

I listen to the tide at night and voices of the boatmen.

...My thin hair grows wintry, like the triple Xiang streams,

Three thousand miles my heart goes, homesick with the moon;

But the war has left me nothing of my heritage --

And oh, the pang of hearing these drums along the river!

Seven-character-regular-verse

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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