Over blue hills
- Poetry of Nalan Xingde

《长相思》

- Last updated: 2023-12-29 21:33:13

中文原文

山一程，水一程，身向榆关那畔行，夜深千帐灯。

风一更，雪一更，聒碎乡心梦不成，故园无此声。

English Translation

Over blue hills,

over clear rivers,

i'm gonna go to Shanhai Pass,

night falls,thousands of lights shine in deep.

wind howls,

snow flutters,

soldiers suddenly stand together,

wolves growls ,hardly hear this sound at home.

By Nalan Xingde

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.

List of Chinese poets