English Rendering
Wanderers lean hard on their oars and,
in the dusk, they sing a sailor's song.
Laughing, I throw a rope around the moon in the river.
In this clear radiance, even I'm not bored.
Clear Stream, Afloat in a Boat
- Poetry of Zhang Xu
《清溪泛舟》
Original Text (中文原文)
旅人倚征棹，薄暮起劳歌。
笑揽清溪月，清辉不厌多。
Analysis & Context
Zhang Xu, with Henry Thoreau, is high on my list of people to take a canoe trip with. People like that take their pleasure seriously enough to get some good out of it. Note that both sing sailor's songs when working an oar. I, too, can sing.
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.
- Clear Stream, Afloat in a Boat
- Spring Outing, Coinciding with Rain
- Willows
- Spring Grasses
- Mountain Walk, Asking Guest to Stay
- Peach-blossom River
- 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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