Tag: Nature Poems

Posted on

Qi Ji Poem: To the Early Mume Blossoms – 齐己《早梅》

早梅

齐己

万木冻欲折，

孤根暖独回。

前村深雪里，

昨夜一枝开。

风递幽香去，

禽窥素艳[1]来。

明年应有律[2]，

先发望春台[3]。

注释：

[1] 素艳：这里指早梅的色彩素净而又娇艳。

[2] 律：原来指古代校正乐音标准的管状仪器，并且分有十二律；又因为古人用十二律的名称对应一年的十二个月，所以律又指节气。此处“应有律”就是指应该有一个明媚的春季。

[3] 春台：这里代指主持考试的礼部。

To the Early Mume Blossoms

Qi Ji

Frozen are all the trees;

Your warm root will not freeze.

In the village’s deep snow

Last night your branch did blow.

Fragrance oozed in wind light;

Birds peep at you still white.

If you blossom next year,

You will foretell spring’s near.

The poet shows he is as pure and cold-proof as the mume blossom.

《早梅》是唐代诗人齐己的一首咏物诗，写作者在雪后出行看到早梅开放的所见所感，全诗语言轻润平淡毫无浮艳之气，以含蕴的笔触刻画了梅花傲寒的品性及素艳的风韵。

The poem “Early Plum Blossoms” is a poem by Qi Ji, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, about what he saw and felt when he saw early plum blossoms after a trip in the snow.

Posted on

Tang Yanqian Poem: The Weeping Willow – 唐彦谦《垂柳》

垂柳

唐彦谦

绊惹[1]春风别有情，

世间谁敢斗轻盈？

楚王[2]江畔[3]无端种，

饿损纤腰[4]学不成。

注释：

[1] 绊惹：这里是逗引的意思。

[2] 楚王：指楚灵王。

[3] 江畔：楚王栽柳之所应该为长江江畔。《中朝故事》载：唐代曲江江畔多柳，号称“柳衙”。因此，这里的江畔可以理解为长安附近的曲江。

[4] 饿损纤腰：指楚灵王喜欢纤腰的人。郢都的人们都用少食的办法想让自己瘦下来，所以后代有用“楚腰”来形容女子的体态妖娆。杜牧《遣怀》诗中就有“落魄江湖载酒行，楚腰纤细掌中轻”句。

The Weeping Willow

Tang Yanqian

Flirting with vernal breeze, the willow sways so tender.

Who in the world can vie with it but the waist slender?

It is planted at random by the riverside.

How many maids fond of its leaves of hunger died?

The poet satirizes the maidens trying to make their waist as slender as willow branch.

赏析

　　首句“绊惹春风别有情”，撇开垂柳的外貌不写，径直从动态中写其性格、情韵。柳枝的摇曳，本是春风轻拂的结果，可诗人不以实道来，而说是垂柳有意撩逗春风。“绊惹”二字，把垂柳写活，第二句，“世间谁敢斗轻盈？”把垂柳写得形态毕肖。“轻盈”，形容体态苗条。诗人极写垂柳美，自有一番心意。垂柳暗以体态轻盈的美人赵飞燕自喻，是紧承上句，以垂柳自夸的口气写出其纤柔飘逸之美。“谁敢斗轻盈”问得极妙，这一问，从反面肯定了垂柳的美是无与伦比的，也显出了垂柳恃美而骄的神情。

　　后二句“楚王江畔无端种，饿损纤腰学不成”，婆娑于江畔的垂柳，本是无心所插，却害得楚王宫中的嫔妃们为使腰支也象垂柳般纤细轻盈，不敢吃饭，而白白饿死。笔锋一转，另辟蹊径，联想到楚灵王“爱细腰，宫女多饿死”的故事，巧妙地抒发了诗人托物寄兴的情怀。诗人并不在发思古之幽情，而是有感而发。试想当时晚唐朝政腐败，大臣竞相以善于窥测皇帝意向为能，极尽逢合谄媚之能事。这种邀宠取媚的伎俩也很象“饿损纤腰”的楚王宫女，“楚王江畔无端种”，“无端”二字意味深长，江畔种柳，对楚王来说，也许是随意为之，而在争宠斗艳的宫女们心目中却成了了不起的大事，她们自以为揣摩到楚王爱细腰的意向了，而竞相束腰以至于饿饭、饿死，含蓄而深刻。

　　全诗中诗人将矛头直指皇帝及其为首的封建官僚集团，直陈时弊，淋漓痛快。诗人采取了迂回曲折、托物寄兴的手法，柔情中见犀利，含蓄中露锋芒，二者可谓殊途同归，各尽其妙。旨在写意，重在神似，他虽无意对垂柳进行工笔刻画，但给读者以艺术美的享受。这首诗咏垂柳，没有精工细刻柳的枝叶外貌，也没有点染柳的色泽光彩，但刻画出体态轻盈、翩翩起舞、风姿秀出的垂柳，是一首具有韵味的咏物诗。▲

Appreciation

　　The first line, “The spring breeze has a special feeling”, leaves aside the external appearance of the weeping willow and writes about its character and emotions from its dynamics. The first line of the book, “The Spring Breeze”, is the result of the spring breeze, but the poet does not tell the truth, but says that the weeping willow intentionally teases the spring breeze. “The second line, “Who in the world dares to fight lightly?” The second line, “Who in the world would dare to fight against the lightness of the weeping willow?” is written in a perfect form. The word “light” describes the slim body. The poet wrote about the beauty of the weeping willow with his own heart. The willow is a metaphor for Zhao Feiyan, a beautiful woman with a light body, which is a continuation of the previous line. “Who dares to fight light” is a very good question, this question, from the opposite side to affirm the beauty of the weeping willow is unparalleled, also shows the weeping willow bullying beauty and pride of the look.

　　In the last two lines, “the king of Chu has planted the willow by the river for no reason, and starved his slender waist to death”, the weeping willow by the river was inserted unintentionally, but the concubines in the king’s palace dared not eat in order to make their waist as slender and light as the weeping willow, and they died of hunger for nothing. The poet’s turn of phrase, another way, associated with the story of the king of Chu Ling “love the thin waist, the court ladies died of hunger”, cleverly expressing the poet’s sentiment to the object. The poet is not thinking of the past, but feeling it. Imagine that the late Tang dynasty was corrupt, and the ministers were good at prying into the emperor’s intentions, so they did their best to flatter him. They thought they had understood the king’s intention of loving a slender waist and competed to gird their waists to the point of starvation and death, implicitly and profoundly.

　　The poet points the finger at the emperor and the feudal bureaucracy headed by him, stating the shortcomings of the times in a straightforward and painful manner. The poet adopts a roundabout approach, using objects to send up the emotions, showing the sharpness in the tenderness and the sharpness in the subtlety. Although he has no intention to paint the willow with brushwork, he gives the reader the enjoyment of artistic beauty. The first of these is a poem about a willow, which has a rhythm. ▲

Posted on

Du Xunhe Poem: The Young Pine – 杜荀鹤《小松》

小松

杜荀鹤

自小刺头[1]深草里，

而今渐觉出蓬蒿[2]。

时人不识凌云木[3]，

直待凌云始道高。

注释：

[1] 刺头：这里指刚发出芽的小松树，顶着有刺的松塔，所以称为刺头。

[2] 蓬蒿：指蓬草和蒿草，一般长得比较高。

[3] 凌云木：这里指有凌云之高的树木。

The Young Pine

Du Xunhe

While young, the pine tree thrusts its head amid tall grass;

Now by and by we find it outgrow weed in mass.

People don’t realize it will grow to scrape the sky;

Seeing it tower in cloud, then they know it’s high.

The poet satirizes people’s lack of foresight.

《小松》是唐代诗人杜荀鹤创作的一首七言绝句。这首诗首句勾勒小松外形的特点。次句极写小松的巨大变化。三、四句笔锋一转，发出深深的嗟叹：不识的“时人”，是俗人，是愚人，是见识短浅的人。这是一首托物言志的小诗，它借松写人，托物讽喻。全诗语言精练，含蓄蕴籍，极富哲理。

Little Pine” is a seven-line poem written by Du Xunhe, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. The first line of this poem outlines the characteristics of the pine’s appearance. The second line is about the great change of the pine. In the third and fourth lines, the poem turns to a deep sigh of contempt: those who do not know the “people of the time” are vulgar, foolish and short-sighted people. This is a small poem that uses pine to write about people, and uses it as a metaphor. The language of the poem is concise, subtle and philosophical.

Posted on

Zheng Gu Poem: To the Crabapple Flower – 郑谷《海棠》

海棠

郑谷

春风用意匀颜色，

销得[1]携觞[2]与赋诗。

秾[3]丽最宜新著雨，

娇娆全在欲开时。

莫愁[4]粉黛临窗懒，

梁广[5]丹青点笔迟。

朝醉暮吟看不足，

羡他蝴蝶宿深枝。

注释：

[1] 销得：这里是值得的意思。

[2] 觞（shānɡ）：古代称酒杯。

[3] 秾（nónɡ）：草木茂盛。

[4] 莫愁：古代一个洛阳女子的名字。

[5] 梁广：中唐著名的花鸟画家，李群玉《长沙元门寺张员外壁画》称：“世人只爱黄花鸟，无处不知梁广名。”

To the Crabapple Flower

Zheng Gu

The vernal breeze has brightened your color so fine;

You stir my mind to write a verse before good wine.

With rain impearled on you, more beautiful you grow;

You’re all the more bewitching when about to blow.

The fair forgets to powder her face before you;

The painter hesitates to draw your picture new.

Nor verse nor wine’s enough to show delight in me;

I envy butterflies perching deep in your tree.

The artist’s attitude reveals the beauty of the crabapple flower.

Posted on

Zheng Gu Poem: To the Partridges – 郑谷《鹧鸪》

鹧鸪[1]

郑谷

暖戏烟芜锦翼齐，

品流应得近山鸡。

雨昏青草湖[2]边过，

花落黄陵庙[3]里啼。

游子乍闻征袖湿，

佳人才唱[4]翠眉低。

相呼相应湘江阔，

苦竹丛深日向西。

注释：

[1] 鹧鸪：产于我国南部，形似雌雉，体大如鸠。古人称它的鸣叫声为“钩辀格磔”，民间以为其叫声极像“行不得也哥哥”，所以古人常借其声以抒写逐客留人之情。

[2] 青草湖：据盛弘之《荆州记》记载，青草湖就是古巴丘湖，在洞庭湖东南，后来青草湖也就成为洞庭湖的通称。

[3] 黄陵庙：位于湘阴县北洞庭湖畔。传说帝舜南巡，死于苍梧，娥皇、女英二妃溺死于湘江，后人就在湘水岸边立祠堂以表纪念，这祠堂就是黄陵庙。

[4] 唱：这里是指唱《鹧鸪曲》。据《韵语阳秋》记载，《鹧鸪曲》是效仿鹧鸪声而成之曲，是晚唐新声。

To the Partridges

Zheng Gu

Over warm misty grassland wing to wing you fly.

As fair and good as pheasants in the mountain high.

When Grass-green Lake is darkened in rain, you pass by;

When flowers fall on the Imperial Tomb, you cry.

A roamer would wet his sleeves with tears on heating your song;

His wife’d sing after you with lowered eyebrows long.

You echo each other on Southern River wide;

The sun sets on the bamboo grove by the Tombside.

The partridge seems to cry in Chinese: “Don’t go, brother!” The Imperial Tomb refers to the tomb of Emperor Shun who died by the side of the Grass-green Lake and whose wife came to shed tears on the bamboos by the tombside till they were specked.

《鹧鸪》是唐代诗人郑谷创作的一首咏物诗。此诗描绘了鹧鸪的外形和声音，表达游子的凄苦和强烈思归之情。诗人紧紧把握住人和鹧鸪在感情上的联系，咏鹧鸪而重在传神韵，使人和鹧鸪融为一体，构思精妙缜密，深得读者好评，作者也因此诗而时誉远播，人称“郑鹧鸪”。

“To the Partridges” is a poem written by Zheng Gu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. The poem depicts the appearance and sound of the partridge, expressing the wanderer’s misery and strong feelings of longing for home. The poet grasps the emotional connection between humans and partridges, and chants the partridge with emphasis on the rhyme, making humans and partridges become one.

Posted on

Zheng Gu Poem: To the Chrysanthemum – 郑谷《菊》

菊

郑谷

王孙[1]莫把比蓬蒿，

九日[2]枝枝近鬓毛。

露湿秋香满池岸，

由来不羡瓦松[3]高。

注释：

[1] 王孙：这里指贵族公子。

[2] 九日：这里指九月九日重阳节。

[3] 瓦松：这里指长在屋檐上的一种植物。初唐崇文馆学士崔融《瓦松赋》自序中说：“崇文馆瓦松者，产于屋霤之上……俗以其形似松，生必依瓦，故曰瓦松。”

To the Chrysanthemum

Zheng Gu

Do not compare your leaves with tumbleweed in hue!

On Mountain-climbing Day our head’s adorned with you.

When poolside shores are sweet with your blooms wet with dew,

None envy pine-like plants high on the eaves in view.

The poet says that the chrysanthemum is incomparable.

Pages: 1 2
Posted on

Wu Rong Poem: To the Cuckoo – 吴融《子规》

子规[1]

吴融

举国繁华委逝川，

羽毛飘荡一年年。

他山叫处花[2]成血[3]，

旧苑春来草似烟。

雨暗不离浓绿树，

月斜长吊欲明天。

湘江日暮声凄切，

愁杀行人归去船。

注释：

[1] 子规：指子规鸟，又称秭归鸟。相传子规鸟为屈原妹妹屈么姑的精灵所化，每年农历五月，此鸟啼叫“我哥回呦！我哥回呦！”以提醒人们做粽子、修龙舟，准备迎接端午佳节，祭祀屈原。子规又称为杜鹃鸟，传说古代蜀国国王杜宇归隐，让位给他的丞相开明，当时正好是二月，即子规鸟啼叫的季节，蜀人怀念杜宇，所以就称子规鸟为杜鹃。

[2] 花：这里指杜鹃花，又叫映山红。

[3] 成血：这里是指杜鹃花名称的由来。传说当年杜宇离开蜀国，但是不忘他的子民，常常化做杜鹃鸟飞回蜀国，他每啼叫一声，就会从喉咙里喷出一口鲜血；第二年杜鹃鸟飞过之处，就会开出鲜红的杜鹃花。后来诗人常用杜鹃啼血的典故表现凄凉悲哀的情绪。

To the Cuckoo

Wu Rong

You see your splendor gone with the wind disappear;

You waft with resplendent feather from year to year.

Your tears have dyed the flowers red in alien hill;

But when spring comes to your garden, grass looks green still.

Among the leaves, trees dark in rain long you stay;

At moonset you wail and wait for the dawning day.

On Southern River you sadden the setting sun.

Why should you drown in grief the boat of roaming son?

The legend goes that the King of Shu lost his kingdom and turned after his death into a cuckoo which would cry till its tears turned into blood.

《子规》是唐代诗人吴融创作的七言律诗。这首诗从蜀帝杜宇死后魂化杜鹃的故事落笔来抒发感情，描写了杜鹃持续悲鸣的情态，运用反衬极言悲苦凄惨之情。虚实结合，感情真挚动人。

The poem “To the Cuckoo” is a seven-verse poem written by Wu Rong, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. The poem is based on the story of Du Yu, the emperor of Shu, whose soul was transformed into a cuckoo after his death, to express his feelings. The combination of reality and fiction is sincere and moving.

Posted on

Lai Hu Poem: To the Cloud – 来鹄《云》

云

来鹄[1]

千形万象[2]竟还空[3]，

映水藏山片复重。

无限旱苗枯欲尽，

悠悠闲处作奇峰。

注释：

[1] 来鹄：应为“来鹏”。据陈伯海主编的《唐诗汇评》中记载，《全唐诗》中来鹄名下的一卷诗，除《圣政纪颂并序》是来鹄所作外，全部都是来鹏所作。参见陈伯海主编《唐诗汇评》（下），第2776页，浙江教育出版社，1995年。

[2] 千形万象：这里指夏云的形态不断变化。

[3] 空：这里指没有降下甘霖，而不是其他诗歌中的“空当”“空灵”之“空”。

To the Cloud

Lai Hu

You have a thousand shapes in flakes or piles in vain;

Hidden in mountains or on water you remain.

The drought is so severe that all seedlings would die.

Why won’t you come down but leisurely tower high?

The poet complains that clouds won’t turn into rain to combat the drought.

《云》是唐代诗人来鹄创作的一首七言绝句。这是一首托物讽刺诗，前两句描写夏云千形万象，犹如一幅幅映水藏山的图画。后两句斥责夏云不管百姓盼望下雨的急切心情，还悠闲自得地作奇峰状，借以讽刺一些官员徒托空官，不办实事，不恤百姓疾苦。这首诗描写生动形象，写景与抒情巧妙结合，是最富人民性的咏云之作。

“To the Cloud” is a seven-line poem written by the poet Lai Kuan in the Tang Dynasty. The first two lines describe the summer clouds in a thousand shapes, just like a picture reflecting water and hiding mountains. The second two lines rebuke Xia Yun for not caring about the people’s eagerness for rain and making a strange peak in a leisurely manner, so as to satirize some officials for not doing real work and not understanding the people’s hardship. This poem is a vivid description, a clever combination of scenery and lyricism, and is the most popular piece of chanting clouds.

Posted on

Huang Chao Poem: The Chrysanthemum – 黄巢《菊花》

菊花

黄巢

待到秋来九月八[1]，

我花[2]开后百花杀。

冲天香阵[3]透长安，

满城尽带黄金甲[4]。

注释：

[1] 九月八：九月九日是重阳节，古代有赏菊、喝菊花酒的风俗。

[2] 我花：这里指菊花。

[3] 香阵：这里指菊花的芬芳。

[4] 黄金甲：这里指菊花的形状与颜色像黄金制的盔甲。

The Chrysanthemum

Huang Chao

When autumn comes, the Mountain-climbing Day is nigh;

My flower blows when other blooms come to an end.

In battle array its fragrance rises sky-high,

The capital with its golden armor will blend.

The poet speaks as if he were the lord of chrysanthemums in golden armor. The Mountain-climbing Day is the ninth day of the ninth moon according to lunar calendar.

Posted on

Huang Chao Poem: To the Chrisanthemum – 黄巢《题菊花》

题菊花

黄巢

飒飒西风[1]满院栽，

蕊寒香冷蝶难来。

他年我若为青帝[2]，

报与桃花一处开。

注释：

[1] 西风：这里指秋风，因为古人用四个方向来比说四个季节：东为春，南为夏，西为秋，北为冬。

[2] 青帝：古代指司春之神。

To the Chrisanthemum

Huang Chao

In soughing western wind you blossom far and nigh;

Your fragrance is too cold to invite butterfly.

Some day if I as Lord of Spring come into power,

I’d order you to bloom together with peach flower.

The poet was the leader of peasant uprising by the end of the Tang Dynasty.

《题菊花》是唐末农民起义领袖黄巢创作的一首诗，载于《全唐诗》卷七百三十三。此诗采用比兴手法，托物言志，抒发了作者力图主宰社会的豪迈思想。其不同凡响之处在于它展开了充满浪漫主义激情的大胆想象：一旦自己成为青帝（春神）就要让菊花与桃花在大好春光中开放，让菊花也同样享受到蕊暖香浓蜂蝶绕丛的欢乐。这种对不公正“天道”的大胆否定和对理想中的美好世界的热烈憧憬，集中地反映出诗人超越封建文人价值观念的远见卓识和勇于掌握、改变自身命运的雄伟胆略。

A poem entitled “To the Chrisanthemum” is a poem written by Huang Chao, the leader of the peasant rebellion at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and it is published in Volume 733 of The Complete Tang Poems. The poem uses the technique of simile to express the author’s ambition to dominate society. The poem is unusual in that it has a bold imagination full of romantic passion: once he becomes the god of spring, he will let chrysanthemums and peach blossoms open in the beautiful spring light, and let chrysanthemums also enjoy the joy of warm pistils and fragrant bees and butterflies around them. This bold denial of the unjust “heavenly way” and the passionate longing for a better world in the ideal reflect the poet’s visionary vision beyond the values of the feudal literati and his boldness to master and change his own destiny.