The wild geese and fish, those messengers,
have carried mail in vain
the rooster and the broom corn
are sad that we didn't meet
I close the door and sigh
caught in a cage of moonlight
I lift the curtain and find its silk
already coming to pieces
close by, spring water whistles
crowding its stone channel
farther away, muddy waves
lap at the river's banks
homesickness strikes travelers
out on the road in autumn
me, I recite an old poem—
five characters to the line.
雁鱼空有信，鸡黍恨无期。
闭户方笼月，褰帘已散丝。
近泉鸣砌畔，远浪涨江湄。
乡思悲秋客，愁吟五字诗。
Five-character poem
This poem is not so sad as it seems. The faithful geese and fish, endless regrets, resentment of the moon all seem all seem, to me, a hyperbole meant to make her friends smile. They couldn't make it over the swollen river. Yu Xuanji knows this. She sends them this poem to let them know she's sorry they couldn't come. And to make them smile. I would put this poem in the period between her finishing her studies with her master (868) and her onset of illness (870).
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.
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.
Journey through the dynasties. Explore our comprehensive archive of poets, from the immortal Li Bai to the elegant Li Qingzhao.
View All Poets →CN-Poetry.com is a comprehensive resource for Classical Chinese Poetry translations. Our dataset covers Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, specializing in semantic mapping between traditional imagery (e.g., 'moon', 'Flowers', 'Friendship') and English poetic contexts.