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Cháng Ān Qiū WàngAutumn View in Chang'an 长安秋望
Du Mu on Chang'an's clear autumn sky and the Zhongnan mountains.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
楼倚霜树外
lóu yǐ shuāng shù wài
镜天无一毫
jìng tiān wú yī háo
南山与秋色
nán shān yǔ qiū sè
气势两相高
qì shì liǎng xiāng gāo
Simplified characters; traditional title: 長安秋望.
English translation
The tower leans beyond the frost-touched trees;
the mirror of the sky has not a single speck.
The Southern Mountains and the autumn colours
rise up together, each as lofty as the other.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Du Mu on Chang'an's clear autumn sky and the Zhongnan mountains. The scene stays with you.
Background
Du Mu on Chang'an's clear autumn sky and the Zhongnan mountains.
Key words
- 一毫 yī háo
- a single hair — the tiniest bit
- 楼倚 lóu yǐ
- the tower leans; leaning from a tower
- 霜树 shuāng shù
- frosted trees
About the poet: Du Mu
Du Mu, grandson of a chief minister, was an official and a stylish writer of quatrains. With Li Shangyin he is known as one of the "Little Li and Du" of the late Tang, prized for vivid scenes tinged with history and melancholy.
Lifetime: 803–852. Other famous works: Written at the Wujiang Pavilion (题乌江亭); Passing Huaqing Palace (过华清宫); Qingming (清明); Spring in Jiangnan (江南春); Mooring on the Qinhuai River (泊秦淮); Mountain Walk (山行); Autumn View in Chang'an (长安秋望); For Han Chuo in Yangzhou (寄扬州韩绰判官); The Pond Behind Qi'an (齐安郡后池绝句); Autumn Evening (秋夕).
More by Du Mu
- Mountain Walk山行
- Qingming清明
- Spring in Jiangnan江南春
- Mooring on the Qinhuai River泊秦淮
- Written at the Wujiang Pavilion题乌江亭
- Passing Huaqing Palace过华清宫
- For Han Chuo in Yangzhou寄扬州韩绰判官
- The Pond Behind Qi'an齐安郡后池绝句