An Autumn Night Message to Qiu
- Poetry of Wei Yingwu

《秋夜寄丘二十二员外》

- Last updated: 2024-07-16 10:35:21

中文原文

怀君属秋夜，散步咏凉天。

空山松子落，幽人应未眠。

English Translation

As I walk in the cool of the autumn night,

Thinking of you, singing my poem,

I hear a mountain pine-cone fall....

You also seem to be awake.

Five-character-quatrain

Qiu Dan, a friend of the author's, who was living a Taoist’s life on Mountain Linping.

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