New Year's Day
- Poetry of Wang Anshi
Amid the boom of firecrackers a year has come to an end,
And the spring wind has wafted warm breath to the wine.
While the rising sun shines over each and every household,
People would put up new peachwood charm for the old.
Composed during the Xining era of the Northern Song Dynasty when Wang Anshi first assumed the position of prime minister and was fully implementing his reform policies, this poem ingeniously incorporates political ideals and reform aspirations into the folk customs of the Spring Festival. It expresses the poet's belief that his new policies would warm people's hearts like the spring breeze. Blending rich festive atmosphere with implicit political allegory, the poem exemplifies Wang's unique style of integrating personal ambitions into the tides of the times through "embedding governance in customs, entrusting aspirations in events."
爆竹声中一岁除，东风送暖入屠苏。
千门万户曈曈日，争插新桃换旧符。
- 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.
- The Lotus-Gathering Song
- Hymns of Harmony: Song of a Banished Beauty
- Imitation: Lament of a Courtesan
- The Bronze Terrace Courtesan
- Song of the Roosting Crows I
- Song of the Roosting Crows II
- Su Wu
- Ancient Air: A Northern Belle
- Awaiting the Wine That Doesn’t Come
- Consoling Myself