Passing the Seven-league Shallows (Song of Pilgrimage)
- Poetry of Su Shi

《行香子·过七里濑》

English Rendering

A leaf-like boat goes light,

At dripping oars wild geese take fright.

Under a sky serene

Clear shadows float on calm waves green.

Among the mirrored water grass fish play

And egrets dot the riverbank mist-gray.

Thus I go past

The sandy brook flowing fast,

The frosted brook cold,

The moonlit brook bright to behold.


Hill upon hill is a picturesque scene;

Bend after bend looks like a screen.

I recall those far-away years;

The hermit wasted his life till he grew old;

The emperor shared the same dream with his peers,

Then as now, their fame was left out in the cold.

Only the distant hills outspread

Till they're unseen,

The cloud-crowned hills look dishevelled

And dawn-lit hills so green.

Passing the Seven-league Shallows (Song of Pilgrimage) by Su Shi
Passing the Seven-league Shallows (Song of Pilgrimage) by Su Shi

Original Text (中文原文)

一叶舟轻,双桨鸿惊。

水天清、影湛波平。

鱼翻藻鉴,鹭点烟汀。

过沙溪急,霜溪冷,月溪明。

重重似画,曲曲如屏。

算当年、虚老严陵。

君臣一梦,今古空名。

但远山长,云山乱,晓山青。

Analysis & Context

The place where Yan Guang fished as a hermit because he wished to refusc the offer of a high post from his former schoolmate, who became the first emperor Of the Eastern Han dynasty.

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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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