Song of Divination-Ode to the Mume Blossom
- Poetry of Lu You

《卜算子·咏梅》
Song of Divination-Ode to the Mume Blossom by Lu You
English Translation

Beside the broken bridge and outside the post-hall,

A flower is blooming forlorn.

Saddened by her solitude at night-fall,

By wind and rain she's further torn.


Let other flowers their envy pour.

To Spring she lays no claim.

Fallen in mud and ground to dust,she seems no more,

But her fragrance is still the same.

Of all the flowers the patriotic poet loved best the mume blossom,about which he wrote more than one hundred poems,for he himself felt lonely like the flower,rejected by the capitulationists in power.

The plum blossom is confident and noble. It doesn’t try to fight for its place in the warm spring and has no intention of competing with other flowers. When the time is due, the plum blossom’s petals fall and mix with mud and dirt, yet the fragrance they leave behind will never change. This is the spirit that traditional Chinese people seek. Everyone will eventually be gone, but what you do should leave a positive legacy for future generations.

中文原文( Chinese )

驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主。

已是黄昏独自愁，更著风和雨。

无意苦争春，一任群芳妒。

零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故。

- Last updated: 2025-05-11 21:36:21
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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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