Pouring our tears into two lotus ponds
- Poetry of Meng Jiao

《试妾与君泪》

- Last updated: 2024-03-16 15:43:50

中文原文

试妾与君泪，两处滴池水。

看取芙蓉花，今年为谁死。

English Translation

Pouring our tears into two lotus ponds,

let's see which lotus in two ponds die first.

Baby,don't say we're just two irrelative transients,

look my pond,the water has become red as my yearning.

By Meng Jiao

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