English Rendering
Two birds on the limpid lake
fly away and come back together everyday.
I seem to see they whisper among the lotus,
and breed their children with all their love.
Two birds on the lake
- Poetry of Xue Tao
《池上双凫》
Original Text (中文原文)
双栖绿池上，朝去暮飞还。
更忆将雏日，同心莲叶间。
Analysis & Context
Xue Tao: 薛涛(AD768-832),she is a female poet in Tang dynasty.She lives in Chengdu city all her life,and makes many patrician friends.She loves to write poems in the peachy letter.People call this letter"The Xuetao Letter"
She has come up from the bottom by educating herself and writes poetry which is no deeper than a plain understanding of the world. Yet she has an art which often shines through. The third line is [night watches][remember][coming][chick][days]. Remembering the future only occurs to an uncommon mind.
Reader's Companion
The Essence of the Verse
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Reading Between the Lines
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
- For Those Who Happily Remained After the Rain
- Autumn stream
- To the peony
- To my friend
- Two birds on the lake
- The Summit Temple
- <Prelude to Water Melody> Sent to Ziyou on Mid-autumn Festival
- Invitation to Wine
- Question and Answer in the Mountains
- Cold sheet
- Coming Home ( Returning Home )
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