Lovesickness
- Poetry of Wang Wei
《相思》Five-character-quatrain
Yearning, love sick, thinking as one, one hearted, and fancy. When Spring comes a young man’s yearning/fancy (and woman’s too) turns to love. Wang Wei, our love sick poet, has not found an antidote, but a stimulus, by picking and eating the popular red bean.
Composed during Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao era (742-756) on the eve of the An Lushan Rebellion, this poem was written while Wang Wei held official position in the capital. Despite professional success, he harbored solitude—his friends like Pei Di having retreated to mountain reclusion. Drawn to Chan Buddhism and nature, Wang Wei channeled these complex emotions into four deceptively simple lines. Using red beans (相思子, "love peas") as emotional vessels, the poem transcends specific dedication, serving equally as friendship token or romantic yearning, becoming an enduring masterpiece of symbolic expression.
When those red berries come in springtime,
Flushing on your southland branches,
Take home an armful, for my sake,
As a symbol of our love.
红豆生南国，春来发几枝?
愿君多采撷，此物最相思。
紅豆生南國， 春來發幾枝。
願君多采擷， 此物最相思。
- 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.