Wind and Rain
- Poetry of Li Shangyin

《风雨》

- Last updated: 2024-05-05 18:05:39

中文原文

凄凉宝剑篇，羁泊欲穷年。

黄叶仍风雨，青楼自管弦。

新知遭薄俗，旧好隔良缘。

心断新丰酒，消愁斗几千？

English Translation

I ponder on the poem of The Precious Dagger.

My road has wound through many years.

...Now yellow leaves are shaken with a gale;

Yet piping and fiddling keep the Blue Houses merry.

On the surface, I seem to be glad of new people;

But doomed to leave old friends behind me,

I cry out from my heart for Xinfeng wine

To melt away my thousand woes.

Five-character-regular-verse

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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