A View of the Han River
- Poetry of Wang Wei

《汉江临眺 (汉江临泛)》

- Last updated: 2024-04-26 16:40:47

中文原文

楚塞三湘接，荆门九派通。

江流天地外，山色有无中。

郡邑浮前浦，波澜动远空。

襄阳好风日，留醉与山翁。

English Translation

With its three southern branches reaching the Chu border,

And its nine streams touching the gateway of Jing,

This river runs beyond heaven and earth,

Where the colour of mountains both is and is not.

The dwellings of men seem floating along

On ripples of the distant sky --

These beautiful days here in Xiangyang

Make drunken my old mountain heart!

Five-character-regular-verse

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