Over the West Pavilion Clouds of Ink Pass by
- Poetry of Su Shi

《江城子·墨云拖雨过西楼》
Over the West Pavilion Clouds of Ink Pass by by Su Shi
中文原文( Chinese )

墨云拖雨过西楼。

水东流，晚烟收。

柳外残阳，回照动帘钩。

今夜巫山真个好，花未落，酒新篘。

美人微笑转星眸。

月华羞，捧金瓯。歌扇萦风，吹散一春愁。

试问江南诸伴侣，谁似我，醉扬州。

English Translation

Over the west pavilion clouds of ink pass by,

Dragging heavy drops towards the sunset sky.

Yangtse River runs eastward in waves of white,

Taking with it the last breath of cloudy climes.

Along the banks willows bow to the golden light

That touch curtain hooks to shimmer and shine.--

All sweetly tuned for a lushy venue of delight, --

a blooming garden and freshly filtered wines.

My beauty has a smile like the starry night.

The silver moon hides away, now pale and shy.

Her singing is like gentle whispers of the night.

Her fair fan in hand soothes my moody mind.

To River South my peers in endless fight right:

Such fun in Yangzhou I wouldn’t change for thine.

It’s a sentimental poem, a spur-of-the-moment yet well-structured with a yin-yang revolving pattern for a dynamic outcome built with words. Your imaginary eye would follow the poet from east to west, and back to east, then from the distant to the near, and settle to highlight the main role - the beauty, then to friends afar and back to me here. This could be quite impressive to many people but nothing unique in literature among the Chinese literati. It has been a habitual mindset like a code pattern set in the Chinese bloodline of ideology. And Su Shi was a master of the format.

- Last updated: 2024-10-05 20:04:44
· Pre： Flower Shadow
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

© 2024 CN-Poetry.com Chinese Poems in English