South go the wildgesse, for leaves are now falling,
And the water is cold with a wind from the north.
I remember my home; but the Xiang River's curves
Are walled by the clouds of this southern country.
I go forward. I weep till my tears are spent.
I see a sail in the far sky.
Where is the ferry? Will somebody tell me?
It's growing rough. It's growing dark.
-- Poem translator: Kiang Kanghu
木落雁南度，北风江上寒。
我家襄水曲，遥隔楚云端。
乡泪客中尽，孤帆天际看。
迷津欲有问，平海夕漫漫。
木落雁南渡， 北風江上寒。
我家襄水曲， 遙隔楚雲端。
鄉淚客中盡， 孤帆天際看。
迷津欲有問， 平海夕漫漫。
Five-character-regular-verse
Composed during Meng Haoran's travels in Jiangnan, this work reflects the poet's sojourn in unfamiliar lands amidst career disappointments, filled with homesickness and existential uncertainty. The title "Early Cold" references both the seasonal transition and emotional state. Through wintry river scenery, the poem conveys profound loneliness and nostalgia, exemplifying Meng's signature fusion of landscape and emotion in his travel poetry. The melancholic autumn imagery perfectly embodies the wanderer's sorrow, making this one of his most representative journey poems.
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.
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