English Rendering
From fountainheads water streaks out thin and quiet.
Soft and Sunny are trees reflected in the pond.
A slim lotus leaf, not yet unfurled, scarcely appears
When on its pointed tip a dragonfly is alighted.
A Small Pond
- Poetry of Yang Wanli
《小池》
Original Text (中文原文)
泉眼无声惜细流，树阴照水爱晴柔。
小荷才露尖尖角，早有蜻蜓立上头。
Analysis & Context
Composed in 1176 at Yang Wanli's ancestral home in Jishui, Jiangxi, this quatrain exemplifies the "Chengzhai Style"—finding cosmic wonder in microcosm. Written during early summer when lotus buds first pierced the water and dragonflies hovered, the poem transforms a mundane household pond into a theater of ecological intimacy through personification and kinetic precision.
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.
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