Shū ShìA Quiet Matter 书事
Wang Wei sits indoors after rain and watches the moss seem to climb onto his clothes.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
轻阴阁小雨
qīng yīn gé xiǎo yǔ
深院昼慵开
shēn yuàn zhòu yōng kāi
坐看苍苔色
zuò kàn cāng tái sè
欲上人衣来
yù shàng rén yī lái
Simplified characters; traditional title: 書事.
English translation
A light overcast holds the drizzle;
deep in the courtyard, too lazy to open the gate by day.
I sit and look at the colour of the green moss —
it seems about to climb onto my clothes.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Wang Wei sits indoors after rain and watches the moss seem to climb onto his clothes. The scene stays with you.
Background
Wang Wei sits indoors after rain and watches the moss seem to climb onto his clothes.
Key words
- 轻阴 qīng yīn
- light overcast; soft shade
- 阁小 gé xiǎo
- a small pavilion; little chamber
- 深院 shēn yuàn
- a deep courtyard
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