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Yú Gē ZiFisherman's Song 渔歌子

Zhang Zhihe (张志和, also known as )｜Mid Tang｜mixed-line verse

Zhang Zhihe on a fisherman in wind and drizzle, in no hurry to go home.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

西塞山前白鹭飞
xī sāi shān qián bái lù fēi

桃花流水鳜鱼肥
táo huā liú shuǐ guì yú féi

青箬笠
qīng ruò lì

绿蓑衣
lǜ suō yī

斜风细雨不须归
xié fēng xì yǔ bù xū guī

Simplified characters; traditional title: 漁歌子.

Before Xisai Mountain the white egrets fly;

peach petals on the stream, the mandarin fish are fat.

A blue bamboo hat,

a green straw cape —

in slanting wind and fine rain, no need to go home.

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

西塞山前白鹭飞 · xī sāi shān qián bái lù fēi — Before Xisai Mountain the white egrets fly;

桃花流水鳜鱼肥 · táo huā liú shuǐ guì yú féi — peach petals on the stream, the mandarin fish are fat.

青箬笠 · qīng ruò lì — A blue bamboo hat,

绿蓑衣 · lǜ suō yī — a green straw cape —

斜风细雨不须归 · xié fēng xì yǔ bù xū guī — in slanting wind and fine rain, no need to go home.

Egrets rise, peach blossom, fat fish in the current. Blue hat, green cape, slant wind and fine rain—no need to go home. Freedom is the whole point.

Zhang Zhihe on a fisherman in wind and drizzle, in no hurry to go home.

Zhang Zhihe's Fisherman's Song paints freedom in mist and rain.

Lifetime: c. 730–c. 810. Other famous works: Fisherman's Song (渔歌子).