Home › Poems › Evening Song by the River
Mù Jiāng YínEvening Song by the River 暮江吟
Sunset on the river, a new moon and dew on the third night of the ninth month.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
一道残阳铺水中
yī dào cán yáng pù shuǐ zhōng
半江瑟瑟半江红
bàn jiāng sè sè bàn jiāng hóng
可怜九月初三夜
kě lián jiǔ yuè chū sān yè
露似真珠月似弓
lù shì zhēn zhū yuè shì gōng
Simplified characters; traditional title: 暮江吟.
English translation
One streak of setting sun spreads across the water:
half the river jade-green, half the river red.
How lovely, this night, the third of the ninth month —
dew like true pearls, the moon like a bow.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Sunset on the river, a new moon and dew on the third night of the ninth month. The scene stays with you.
Background
Sunset on the river, a new moon and dew on the third night of the ninth month.
Key words
- 瑟瑟 sè sè
- rustling; a chill shiver
- 一道 yī dào
- a single stretch or path
- 残阳 cán yáng
- the setting sun; lingering light
About the poet: Bai Juyi
Bai Juyi (also romanized Po Chü-i; courtesy name Letian) wrote in a famously plain style — legend says he read drafts to an old woman and revised anything she could not understand. An outspoken official, he was exiled to Jiangzhou and later governed Hangzhou and Suzhou. His poems were hugely popular in Heian Japan.
Lifetime: 772–846. Other famous works: On the Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month, on Duty in the Palace, Thinking of Yuan Zhen (八月十五日夜禁中独直对月忆元九); A Question for Liu the Nineteenth (问刘十九); A New Mountain Cottage Below Incense Burner Peak, Written on the East Wall (香炉峰下新卜山居草堂初成偶题东壁); Grass on the Ancient Plain: A Farewell (赋得古原草送别); Song of Everlasting Sorrow (长恨歌); The Song of the Lute (琵琶行); The Old Charcoal Seller (卖炭翁); Evening Song by the River (暮江吟); On the Pond (池上); White Cloud Spring (白云泉); Remembering the South (忆江南); Sent to Xianyou Temple (送王十八归山寄题仙游寺); Lotus-Picking Song (采莲曲); Spring Walk by Qiantang Lake (钱塘湖春行); To Yin, Master of Music (寄殷协律); Spring on the Lake (春题湖上); Peach Blossoms at Dalin Temple (大林寺桃花); Night Snow (夜雪).
More by Bai Juyi
- A New Mountain Cottage Below Incense Burner Peak, Written on the East Wall香炉峰下新卜山居草堂初成偶题东壁
- Song of Everlasting Sorrow长恨歌
- Grass on the Ancient Plain: A Farewell赋得古原草送别
- A Question for Liu the Nineteenth问刘十九
- On the Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month, on Duty in the Palace, Thinking of Yuan Zhen八月十五日夜禁中独直对月忆元九
- On the Pond池上
- White Cloud Spring白云泉
- Remembering the South忆江南