At Heron Lodge ( Climbing Stork Tower )
- Poetry of Wang Zhihuan

《登鹳雀楼》

- Last updated: 2024-04-16 19:09:41

中文原文

Simplified Chinese

白日依山尽，黄河入海流。

欲穷千里目，更上一层楼。

Traditional Chinese

白日依山盡，黃河入海流。

欲窮千里目，更上一層樓。

English Translation

Mountains cover the white sun,

And oceans drain the golden river;

But you widen your view three hundred miles

By going up one flight of stairs.

Five-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