A Song of Qiu-pu
- Poetry of Li Bai (Li Po)

《秋浦歌（其五）》

- Last updated: 2024-03-20 14:27:00

中文原文

秋浦多白猿，超腾若飞雪。

牵引条上儿，饮弄水中月。

English Translation

The Qiu-pu shore teems with white gi bbons.

They leap and bounce like flying snow.

They tug their young down from the branches

To drink and play with the moonglow.

By Li Bai

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