Mooring at Twilight in Yuyi District
- Poetry of Wei Yingwu

《夕次盱眙縣》

- Last updated: 2024-03-24 17:23:43

中文原文

落帆逗淮鎮，停舫臨孤驛。

浩浩風起波，冥冥日沈夕。

人歸山郭暗，雁下蘆洲白。

獨夜憶秦關，聽鐘未眠客。

English Translation

Furling my sail near the town of Huai,

I find for harbour a little cove

Where a sudden breeze whips up the waves.

The sun is growing dim now and sinks in the dusk.

People are coming home. The bright mountain-peak darkens.

Wildgeese fly down to an island of white weeds.

...At midnight I think of a northern city-gate,

And I hear a bell tolling between me and sleep.

Five-character-ancient-verse

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