Home › Poems › Drunk at Lake View Tower
Liù Yuè Èr Shí Qī Rì Wàng Hú Lóu Zuì ShūDrunk at Lake View Tower 六月二十七日望湖楼醉书
A sudden summer shower over the lake that comes and goes in minutes.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
黑云飜墨未遮山
hēi yún fān mò wèi zhē shān
白雨跳珠乱入船
bái yǔ tiào zhū luàn rù chuán
卷地风来忽吹散
juǎn dì fēng lái hū chuī sàn
望湖楼下水如天
wàng hú lóu xià shuǐ rú tiān
Simplified characters; traditional title: 六月二十七日望湖樓醉書.
English translation
Black clouds spill like ink but have not hidden the hills;
white rain leaps like pearls, bouncing into the boat.
A wind sweeps over the land and scatters it all —
below Lake View Tower, the water is like the sky.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
A sudden summer shower over the lake that comes and goes in minutes. The scene stays with you.
Background
A sudden summer shower over the lake that comes and goes in minutes.
Key words
- 黑云 hēi yún
- key word in the poem
- 飜墨 fān mò
- key word in the poem
- 未遮 wèi zhē
- key word in the poem
About the poet: Su Shi
Su Shi, better known as Su Dongpo, was a poet, essayist, painter, calligrapher and official — the great all-rounder of the Song dynasty. Repeatedly exiled, he met hardship with humor and philosophy, and made the ci (song lyric) a vehicle for grand themes.
Lifetime: 1037–1101. Other famous works: Prelude to Water Melody (When Will the Moon Be Clear?) (水调歌头); Spring Night (春夜); Remembering the Past at Red Cliff (念奴娇·赤壁怀古); Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple (题西林壁); Drinking at West Lake: First Sun, Then Rain (饮湖上初晴后雨); Red Cliff Rhapsody (赤壁赋); Gazing South from Chaoran Terrace (望江南); Drunk at Lake View Tower (六月二十七日望湖楼醉书); Spring River at Dusk (惠崇春江晚景); Crabapple (海棠); Silk-Washing Stream (浣溪沙); Silk-Washing Stream: Dragon Boat Festival (浣溪沙); Eating Lychees (食荔枝); On the Road to Xincheng (新城道中); Calming the Waves (定风波); For Liu Jingwen (赠刘景文).
More by Su Shi
- Spring Night春夜
- Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple题西林壁
- Drinking at West Lake: First Sun, Then Rain饮湖上初晴后雨
- Prelude to Water Melody (When Will the Moon Be Clear?)水调歌头
- Remembering the Past at Red Cliff念奴娇·赤壁怀古
- Gazing South from Chaoran Terrace望江南
- Spring River at Dusk惠崇春江晚景
- Crabapple海棠