除夜宿太原寒甚
[明]于谦
寄语天涯客，
轻寒底用愁？
春风来不远，
只在屋东头。
On a Cold New Year’s Eve
Yu Qian
I tell those who roam
To make light of cold.
Spring wind will soon come
Eastwards as foretold[1].
注释：
[1]The last verse may be compared with that of Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind written 400 years later.
“New Year’s Eve in Taiyuan is Very Cold” is a poem by Yu Qian, a minister and poet in the Ming Dynasty. The first two lines of the poem encourage himself and his colleagues not to worry about the slight cold on New Year’s Eve, showing the poet’s contempt for the severe cold and his confidence in overcoming difficulties; the last two lines explain that although the wind is cold and the ice is hard, the New Year will begin after New Year’s Eve, and the warm spring breeze will soon blow across the land, pointing out the future and strengthening confidence. The whole poem is simple in language and profound in meaning. The poet expresses his passionate feelings in a plain and relaxed tone and symbolic means, showing his unyielding character and resolute and courageous spirit of progress.
