A Song of the Spring Palace
- Poetry of Wang Changling

《春宫曲》

- Last updated: 2024-05-13 10:19:20

中文原文

昨夜风开露井桃，未央前殿月轮高。

平阳歌舞新承宠，帘外春寒赐锦袍。

English Translation

Last night, while a gust blew peach-petals open

And the moon shone high on the Palace Beyond Time,

The Emperor gave Pingyang, for her dancing,

Brocades against the cold spring-wind.

Seven-character-quatrain

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.

List of Chinese poets