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Tián Yuán LèJoys of the Countryside 田园乐
Wang Wei on a spring morning after rain: peach red, willow green, petals falling.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
桃红复含宿雨
táo hóng fù hán sù yǔ
柳绿更带朝烟
liǔ lǜ gèng dài cháo yān
花落家童未扫
huā luò jiā tóng wèi sǎo
莺啼山客犹眠
yīng tí shān kè yóu mián
Simplified characters; traditional title: 田園樂.
English translation
Peach blossoms red, still holding last night's rain;
willows green, still wrapped in morning mist.
Petals fall, and the houseboy hasn't swept them;
the orioles sing, and the mountain guest still sleeps.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Wang Wei on a spring morning after rain: peach red, willow green, petals falling. The scene stays with you.
Background
Wang Wei on a spring morning after rain: peach red, willow green, petals falling.
Key words
- 田园乐 tián yuán lè
- joy of fields and gardens — pastoral delight
- 桑柘 sāng zhè
- mulberry and cudrania — farm trees
- 东篱 dōng lí
- the eastern hedge — Tao Yuanming's chrysanthemum fence
About the poet: Wang Wei
Wang Wei was a poet, painter, musician and court official. A devout Buddhist, he wrote spare, luminous landscape verse; later critics said there is "a painting in his poems and a poem in his paintings." He is sometimes called the "Buddha of Poetry."
Lifetime: c. 699–761. Other famous works: Miscellaneous Poem (You Have Come from Home) (杂诗); Farewell (Dismounting to Drink) (送别); Autumn Evening in the Mountains (山居秋暝); Longing (相思); Deer Park (鹿柴); Bamboo Grove Retreat (竹里馆); Farewell to Yuan the Second on His Mission to Anxi (送元二使安西); Thinking of My Brothers on the Double Ninth (九月九日忆山东兄弟); Birdsong in the Ravine (鸟鸣涧); Joys of the Countryside (田园乐); Floating on the Han River (汉江临泛); In the Mountains (山中); Farewell in the Mountains (山中送别); Long Rain at Wangchuan (积雨辋川庄作); Magnolia Bank (辛夷坞); Seeing Off Shen Zifu (送沈子福之江东); Reply to Vice-Prefect Zhang (酬张少府); A Quiet Matter (书事); Song of Youth (少年行); My Retreat at Zhongnan (终南别业); Seeing Off Prefect Li of Zizhou (送梓州李使君).
More by Wang Wei
- Farewell to Yuan Er on His Mission to Anxi送元二使安西
- Deer Park鹿柴
- Bamboo Grove Retreat竹里馆
- Thinking of My Brothers on the Double Ninth九月九日忆山东兄弟
- Farewell (Dismounting to Drink)送别
- Autumn Evening in the Mountains山居秋暝
- Longing相思
- Miscellaneous Poem (You Have Come from Home)杂诗