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Dà Lín Sì Táo HuāPeach Blossoms at Dalin Temple 大林寺桃花
Bai Juyi finds peach blossom just opening at a mountain temple in the fourth month.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
人间四月芳菲尽
rén jiān sì yuè fāng fēi jǐn
山寺桃花始盛开
shān sì táo huā shǐ shèng kāi
长恨春归无觅处
zhǎng hèn chūn guī wú mì chù
不知转入此中来
bù zhī zhuǎn rù cǐ zhōng lái
Simplified characters; traditional title: 大林寺桃花.
English translation
In the fourth month, the flowers of the world are gone;
in the mountain temple, the peach blossoms are just in full bloom.
I always regretted that spring left without a trace —
not knowing it had turned and come in here.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
In the fourth month flowers are finished in the human world; climbing to the mountain temple, peach blossom is still in bloom. Spring had not gone—it was waiting higher up.
Background
Bai Juyi finds peach blossom just opening at a mountain temple in the fourth month.
Key words
- 大林寺 dà lín sì
- Dalin Temple
- 人间 rén jiān
- the human world; this mortal realm
- 山寺 shān sì
- a mountain temple
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