The Lake Qi
- Poetry of Wang Wei
《欹湖》
English Translation
I play my flute, nearing the furthest shore;
At sunset I bid my lord farewell.
On the lake I turn my head once more —
Green hills fold white clouds where they dwell.
This poem is the eighth of Wang Wei's twenty-poem Wang River Collection, composed in harmony with a poem by his friend Pei Di. Although situated within a series of landscape poems, it ingeniously incorporates the motif of "farewell," demonstrating how Wang Wei seamlessly dissolves personal feelings of parting into the eternal tranquility of the Wang River landscape. It is not a direct, heartfelt farewell but a transcendent, cinematic tableau of parting composed of sound, twilight, and a backward glance.
中文原文( Chinese )
吹箫凌极浦，日暮送夫君。
湖上一回首，青山卷白云。
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- 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.