Sù jiàn dé jiān 宿 建 德 江 by Mèng Hàorán 孟浩然
移舟泊烟渚
日暮客愁新
野旷天低树
江清月近人
yí zhōu bó yān zhǔ
移舟泊烟渚
rì mù kè chóu xīn
日暮客愁新
yě kuàng tiān dī shù
野旷天低树
jiāng qīng yuè jìnrén
江清月近人
Yi zhou po yan zhu
移舟泊烟渚
move boat mooring mist bank
Ri mu ke chou xin
日暮客愁新
sunset customer (traveler) worry new
Ye kuang tian di shu
野旷天低树
open space vast sky earth tree
Jiang qing yue jin ren
江清月近人
river clear moon close person
The poet was travelling in a boat along the Jian de river (in Zhe Jiang province). He decided to stop for the night and sat in his boat watching the river at dusk. The place engendered new feelings of sadness, melancholy and he wrote this poem.
This poem was written at dusk,暮, when it was not possible to see into the water. There was a light mist on the river, boats were slowly moving.
This let the poet think about his life: just don’t know what will be happen in the future.
In the poem you cannot find the word ‘autumn’, but in the boundless open field a small tree looks like it connects the earth with the sky, heaven. The quietude of the river and the bright moon accompany the person. You can see and feel autumn in the poem.
At dusk the poet is part of this beautiful scene, he reflects on this and has just a little feeling of sadness.
移舟泊烟渚 moving boats in the mist seen from the bank
日暮客愁新 at dusk the traveller feels sadness, it is a new sadness
野旷天低树 in the boundless open field heaven and earth seem connected by a tree
江清月近人 the water in the river is clear; the reflection of the moon is close
Mist, moving boats seen from the bank,
Dusk, the traveller feels a new sadness,
Field, boundless, tree-joined heaven and earth,
River, clear, moon’s reflection close.
Xiaosui reciting Sù jiàn dé jiān 宿 建 德 江 by Mèng Hàorán 孟浩然
Meng Haoran 孟浩然 (689 or 691 – 740) was a Chinese poet during the Tang Dynasty. Unsuccessful in his official career, he mainly lived in and wrote about his birthplace.
The eldest of the major High Tang poets, he was born in Xiangyang, Hubei, and was strongly attached to the area. He lived there almost all his life, and its landscape, history and legends are the subjects of many of his poems. Particularly prominent are Nanshan (or South Mountain, his family seat) and Lumen Shan, where he briefly lived in retreat.
He had an unsuccessful civil service career, passing the Jinshi exam late, at the age of 39. He received his first and last position three years before his death, but resigned after less than a year.
He is often bracketed with Wang Wei, due to the friendship they shared and their prominence as landscape poets. In fact, Haoran composed several poems about Wei and their separation. While Wei focused on the natural world, in particular the solitude and reprieve it granted from human life along with the scale of the natural world, Meng Haoran focuses more on foreground details and human life.
His works are generally considered less consistently successful than Wang's.
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