The Lantern Festival
- Poetry of Zhu Shuzhen

《元夜》

- Last updated: 2023-12-28 21:38:45

中文原文

火树银花触目红，揭天鼓吹闹春风。

新欢入手愁忙里，旧事惊心忆梦中。

但愿暂成人缱绻，不妨常任月朦胧。

赏灯那得工夫醉，未必明年此会同。

English Translation

The fireworks ignited the red sky,

choirs hymned on the street.

You hug me in the crowd,

all of those sweet dreams rushes into my mind.

I wish we could eternally hold this moment,

just let the cloud veils the blushing moon.

baby,light up the lantern,kiss me crazily,

i don't know if i could see you in the next year.

By Zhu Shuzhen

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