A Song of Liangzhou
- Poetry of Wang Han

《凉州词二首·其一》

- Last updated: 2024-05-13 10:32:46

中文原文

葡萄美酒夜光杯，欲饮琵琶马上催。

醉卧沙场君莫笑，古来征战几人回。

English Translation

They sing, they drain their cups of jade,

They strum on horseback their guitars.

...Why laugh when they fall asleep drunk on the sand ? --

How many soldiers ever come home?

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