To the peony
- Poetry of Xue Tao

《牡丹》

- Last updated: 2024-03-15 17:39:38

中文原文

去春零落暮春时，泪湿红笺怨别离。

常恐便同巫峡散，因何重有武陵期？

传情每向馨香得，不语还应彼此知。

只欲栏边安枕席，夜深闲共说相思。

English Translation

Last spring the peony faded,

my tears fell down on the peachy letter.

Always feared that we'll never encounter.

baby,when can you come back to my side?

The peony spread her fragrance without a word,

but we both knew what she wanna tell.

Now i just wanna sleep by the cold well,

night comes,sure,whisper i sweetly to the peony after you left me.

By Xue Tao

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