For My Brothers in the Capital on Cold Food Day
- Poetry of Wei Yingwu
《寒食寄京师诸弟》
English Translation
No fire is made in empty room on rainy days;
I hear alone the riverside orioles' lays.
Drinking, I gaze on flowers and miss my brothers dear;
On Cold Food Day homeland grass grows green and drear.
This poem was written in the second or third year of Emperor Dezong's Zhenyuan reign, while Wei Yingwu was serving as the governor of Jiangzhou. It was the Cold Food Festival, and the poet, far from home, was overwhelmed with feelings of loneliness. His homesickness became especially intense during this holiday, prompting him to write this seven-character quatrain filled with fraternal and hometown emotions.
中文原文( Chinese )
雨中禁火空斋冷，江上流莺独坐听。
把酒看花想诸弟，杜陵寒食草青青。
- 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.
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