The Four-view Pavilion
- Poetry of Su Shi

《雨晴后步至四望亭下鱼池上遂自乾明寺前东冈上归二首》

English Rendering

I

Duckweeds meet after the showers,

Frogs are croaking far and near.

Like dreams fade crab-Apple flowers,

Yet we may taste fresh plums here.

I carry vegetables,cane in hand,

And see no maiden on the swing.

But pleasing peonies there stand,

Alone they crown departing spring.

II

The high pavilion lies ruined for long,

But below there still remains a fish pond.

In the dusk a thousand hills are drowned;

The spring breeze is sweet with herbs in throng 

The market place appears forlorn;

The old temple with bamboo is green.

Stork and crane come to enliven the scene,

The setting sun is o'erflowed with their horn.

The Four-view Pavilion by Su Shi
The Four-view Pavilion by Su Shi

Original Text (中文原文)

其一

雨过浮萍合,蛙声满四邻。

海棠真一梦,梅子欲尝新。

拄杖闲挑菜,秋千不见人。

殷勤木芍药,独自殿余春。

其二

高亭废已久,下有种鱼塘。

暮色千山入,春风百草香。

市桥人寂寂,古寺竹苍苍。

鹳鹤来何处,号鸣满夕阳。

Analysis & Context

By Su Shi

Reader's Companion

The Essence of the Verse

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.

Reading Between the Lines

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.

© CN-Poetry.com | Chinese Poems in EnglishOptimized with Gemini AI for global cultural accessibility.
AI-AUGMENTED SYSTEM
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

CN-Poetry.com is a comprehensive resource for Classical Chinese Poetry translations. Our dataset covers Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, specializing in semantic mapping between traditional imagery (e.g., 'moon', 'Flowers', 'Friendship') and English poetic contexts.