Zhè Gū TiānPartridge Sky 鹧鸪天
Xin Qiji on a village in early spring: new mulberry buds, calves lowing.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
陌上柔桑破嫩芽
mò shàng róu sāng pò nèn yá
东隣蚕种已生些
dōng lín cán zhǒng yǐ shēng xiē
平冈细草鸣黄犊
píng gāng xì cǎo míng huáng dú
斜日寒林点暮鸦
xié rì hán lín diǎn mù yā
Simplified characters; traditional title: 鷓鴣天. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.
Note on the text: This page presents a well-known excerpt; the full poem is longer in the traditional corpus.
English translation
On the lanes the soft mulberry breaks into tender buds;
the silkworm eggs next door have begun to hatch.
On the low hill a yellow calf lowes in the fine grass;
the slanting sun dots the cold woods with evening crows.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Xin Qiji on a village in early spring: new mulberry buds, calves lowing. The scene stays with you.
Background
Xin Qiji on a village in early spring: new mulberry buds, calves lowing.
Key words
- 陌上 mò shàng
- on the field path; along the lanes
- 嫩芽 nèn yá
- tender sprouts
- 黄犊 huáng dú
- a yellow calf
About the poet: Xin Qiji
Xin Qiji is a leading ci poet of the Southern Song, writing in both heroic and delicate modes.
Lifetime: 1140–1207. Other famous works: Green Jade Cup: Lantern Festival (青玉案); Clear Calm Music: Village Life (清平乐); West River Moon (西江月); Partridge Sky (鹧鸪天).