A Night Thought on Terrace Tower
- Poetry of Wei Zhuang

《章台夜思》

中文原文( Chinese )

清瑟怨遥夜，绕弦风雨哀。

孤灯闻楚角，残月下章台。

芳草已云暮，故人殊未来。

乡书不可寄，秋雁又南回。

English Translation

Far through the night a harp is sighing

With a sadness of wind and rain in the strings....

There's a solitary lantern, a bugle-call --

And beyond Terrace Tower down goes the moon.

...Fragrant grasses have changed and faded

While still I have been hoping that my old friend would come....

There are no more messengers I can send him,

Now that the wildgeese have turned south.

Five-character-regular-verse

- Last updated: 2024-06-03 11:38:46

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