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Qián Táng Hú Chūn XíngSpring Walk by Qiantang Lake 钱塘湖春行
Bai Juyi on West Lake in early spring: orioles at the trees, swallows carrying mud.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
几处早莺争暖树
jǐ chù zǎo yīng zhēng nuǎn shù
谁家新燕啄春泥
shuí jiā xīn yàn zhuó chūn ní
乱花渐欲迷人眼
luàn huā jiàn yù mí rén yǎn
浅草才能没马蹄
qiǎn cǎo cái néng méi mǎ tí
Simplified characters; traditional title: 錢塘湖春行. 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
Here and there early orioles vie for the sunny trees;
whose new swallows are pecking at the spring mud?
Wild flowers are starting to dazzle the eye;
the short grass is just deep enough to hide a horse's hooves.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
By West Lake swallows carry mud, orioles peck the thaw. Flowers begin to dazzle the eye; grass will hide the horse's hooves—early spring tipping into full bloom.
Background
Bai Juyi on West Lake in early spring: orioles at the trees, swallows carrying mud.
Key words
- 钱塘湖 qián táng hú
- Qiantang Lake — West Lake
- 争暖树 zhēng nuǎn shù
- vying for the warm trees (in spring sun)
- 乱花 luàn huā
- scattered blossoms; flowers in a riot
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
- Evening Song by the River暮江吟
- On the Pond池上
- White Cloud Spring白云泉