The Double Ninth Festival Delayed by Rain
- Poetry of Yu Xuanji

《重阳阻雨》
The Double Ninth Festival Delayed by Rain by Yu Xuanji
中文原文( Chinese )

满庭黄菊篱边拆，两朵芙蓉镜里开。

落帽台前风雨阻，不知何处醉金杯。

English Translation

The courtyard is full of yellow chrysanthemums

all broken and drooping along the hedge

two flowers, hibiscus and image,

gape at each other's reflections

I put my hat back on the table—

no going out in this wind and rain

and I'm too tipsy to recall where

I put down my golden cup.

Seven-character poem

Yang festival is the ninth day of the ninth month. And it's raining cats and dogs. No hints of Yu Xuanji's life here beyond the continuing evidence that she liked to drink. What get's translated as wine in Chinese poetry is rarely grape wine. The Chinese, like the French, made spirits out of everything fermentable. And the resulting alcohol content could very from "not too much" to "way too much." I wonder how much of the drinking of the literati comes from the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove who, in the Jin dynasty, retired to the wilds to preserve culture and consume vast quantities of "wine." Note that America's love of guns began when the Texas Rangers famously defeated Mexican troops left and right with their new Walker Colts. After that, everybody wanted their own gun. So maybe after the Seven Sages everyone literate wanted their wine. It could happen....

- Last updated: 2024-12-25 21:26:44
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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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