Apricot flowers haven't faded all,
when the swallows fly up,
the clear stream winds around vill.
Catkins of the willow become less,
don't worry,grass grew everywhere.
The spring won't leave us behind.
Behind the wall,a girl plays on a swing
and smiles loudly like a fay.
I quietly listen and drink in.
Gradually the sound of her smiles fades away,
only i'm still immersed in the vision
of taking her to go for a spring outing.
花褪残红青杏小。
燕子飞时，绿水人家绕。
枝上柳绵吹又少。天涯何处无芳草。
墙里秋千墙外道。
墙外行人，墙里佳人笑。
笑渐不闻声渐悄。
多情却被无情恼。
This lyric is supposed to have been written while the poet was banished to Hainan Island,southermost part of the Song territory. The first stanza describes the departing spring and the second depicts the sorrow of a wayfarer far from home.
This poem could be, more likely, written in Huangzhou, Hubei Province. The composing structure is designed by contrasting between the young and the old, the happy world and the lonely melancholy, and possibly, the favoured new party inside the Song Royal Court and the banished old party outside. Dongpo made an effort in the last line of the first stanza comforting himself with an optimistic turn of tone: life still has so much to offer. Let’s appreciate and enjoy the ‘philosophic mind’ that can only be obtained as one ages.
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.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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