Autumn Lament
- Poetry of Yu Xuanji

《秋怨》
Autumn Lament by Yu Xuanji
中文原文( Chinese )

自叹多情是足愁，况当风月满庭秋。

洞房偏与更声近，夜夜灯前欲白头。

English Translation

You sigh, you're full of tenderness,

it's more than you can bear

too many love affairs, too much wind and moon—

and the courtyard is loaded with autumn

the sound of the water-clock's close by—

just outside your bridal chamber

and night by night, next to the lamp,

your hair is turning white.

Seven-character poem

This poem comes from the very end of her life. Here Yu Xuanji knows that she is dying. We know this because she uses the same expression here, 欲白头, for wanting to live out a normal life as she did in this poem when speaking of the scholar Li, who died young. Yu Xuanji does not say what she is dying of. But there were plenty of things to die of in her time, as in ours. At this point, the why no longer matters to her. She seems most concerned with the quality of her mind. She does not want to feel fear and regrets, or to be anxious, or to have her mind filled with noise. It need not be her "room" that is noisy. Her inner room could also be her mind. It probably is. But she does want to live out her life. And that won't happen, as we know.

- Last updated: 2024-12-25 21:09:25
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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.

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