New Year's Eve
- Poetry of Zhu Shuzhen

《除夜》

- Last updated: 2024-06-27 14:43:53

中文原文

穷冬欲去尚徘徊，独坐频斟守岁杯。

一夜腊寒随漏尽，十分春色破朝来。

桃符自写新翻句，玉律谁吹定等灰。

且是作诗人未老，换年添岁莫相催。

English Translation

The late winter’s to leave, but still lingers.

Alone I sit and drink from my cup waiting for New Year.

In one night, cold air will with last hour be gone;

At morrow daybreak, the full spring sight’s drawing near.

For the couplets on door poles, I’ve written new lines;

Who is blowing the jade flute to decide ash marks?

Because of composing poems, I’m still young and fine;

Don’t impel me when Old Year ends and New Year starts.

By Zhu Shuzhen

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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.

List of Chinese poets