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Féng Xuě Sù Fú Róng Shān Zhǔ RénSnow at Hibiscus Mountain 逢雪宿芙蓉山主人
Lodging at a mountain house on a snowy night, hearing a dog bark at the gate. A winter poem.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
日暮苍山远
rì mù cāng shān yuǎn
天寒白屋贫
tiān hán bái wū pín
柴门闻犬吠
chái mén wén quǎn fèi
风雪夜归人
fēng xuě yè guī rén
Simplified characters; traditional title: 逢雪宿芙蓉山主人.
English translation
At dusk the blue mountains seem far away;
in the cold, the white-thatched hut looks poor.
At the brushwood gate I hear a dog bark —
someone coming home through the wind and snow.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Dusk, blue mountains, a poor thatched house in the cold. A dog barks at the brushwood gate; someone comes home through wind and snow. In twenty characters Liu Changqing joins a traveler's loneliness to a sudden human warmth.
Background
Lodging at a mountain house on a snowy night, hearing a dog bark at the gate. A winter poem.
Key words
- 苍山 cāng shān
- blue-green mountains
- 白屋 bái wū
- a plain thatched house
- 柴门 chái mén
- a brushwood gate — a humble door
- 夜归人 yè guī rén
- someone returning at night
About the poet: Liu Changqing
Liu Changqing was called a Great Wall of five-character verse.
Lifetime: c. 726–c. 786. Other famous works: Snow at Hibiscus Mountain (逢雪宿芙蓉山主人).