Return to Nature II
- Poetry of Tao Yuanming
In countryside few care about the State,
Nor Wheels nor hooves are heard in the deep gloom.
By broad daylight I close my wicket gate;
No worldly dust invades my vacant room.
Sometimes I go along the winding way
And meet with peasants through the bushy field.
Then we have nothing untoward to say
But talk about our corn’s growth and its yield.
Our corn grows day by day under our feet;
My field becomes wider beyond wild grass.
But I fear the onset of frost and sleet
Would do harm to my corn and grain, alas!
Composed around 405 CE, this poem is the second in Tao Yuanming's five-part "Returning to Dwell in Gardens and Fields" series. While the first poem focuses on the initial liberation of reclusion, this work shifts to depict daily rural life. Through tranquil natural scenes and simple human interactions, the poet expresses joy in pastoral existence while revealing underlying anxiety about crops potentially ruined by natural disasters—capturing a nuanced "joy-tempered-by-concern" mentality.
野外罕人事，穷巷寡轮鞅。
白日掩荆扉，虚室绝尘想。
时复墟曲中，披草共来往。
相见无杂言，但道桑麻长。
桑麻日已长，我土日已广。
常恐霜霰至，零落同草莽。
- 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.