She Sighs on Her Jade Lute
- Poetry of Wen Tingyun
A cool-matted silvery bed; but no dreams....
An evening sky as green as water, shadowed with tender clouds;
But far off over the southern rivers the calling of a wildgoose,
And here a twelve-story building, lonely under the moon.
Seven-character-quatrain
This poem comes from the renowned late Tang poet Wen Tingyun, celebrated for his graceful lyric poetry. "Lament of the Jade Zither" stands as a quintessential example of his boudoir-plaint poetry. Through delicate depictions of autumn nightscapes and distant geese calls, the poem portrays a sleepless woman yearning for her absent beloved, her emotions adrift without anchor. With exquisite diction and lingering emotional resonance, it represents a masterpiece of late Tang romantic poetry.
冰簟银床梦不成，碧天如水夜云轻。
雁声远过潇湘去，十二楼中月自明。
- 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.
- Song of Qiupu XV
- Song of Qiupu XIV
- Song of Qiupu XIII
- Song of Qiupu XII
- Sobering from Drunkenness in Spring Day
- Lodging with the Master of the Clear Stream
- An Impromptu Verse After Being Drunk on Tongguan Mountain
- Song of a Southern Maiden: Winter
- Staying Overnight with a Friend
- The Sick Horse