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Tí Dū Chéng Nán ZhuāngWritten at a Villa South of the Capital 题都城南庄
Cui Hu: "her face and the peach blossom reflected each other's red", on returning to a place.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
去年今日此门中
qù nián jīn rì cǐ mén zhōng
人面桃花相映红
rén miàn táo huā xiāng yìng hóng
人面不知何处去
rén miàn bù zhī hé chù qù
桃花依旧笑春风
táo huā yī jiù xiào chūn fēng
Simplified characters; traditional title: 題都城南莊.
English translation
Last year, on this day, at this gate,
a face and the peach blossoms shone red on each other.
The face — I don't know where it has gone;
the peach blossoms still smile in the spring wind.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Last year a face glowed with the peach blossom behind this door; this year the blossoms still smile in the spring wind, but the person is gone. Recognition missed by a year.
Background
Cui Hu: "her face and the peach blossom reflected each other's red", on returning to a place.
Key words
- 人面 rén miàn
- a person's face — often a remembered beauty
- 桃花 táo huā
- peach blossom
- 何处去 hé chù qù
- where has it gone?
About the poet: Cui Hu
Cui Hu's peach blossom and remembered face became a love-story legend.
Lifetime: Mid Tang. Other famous works: Written at a Villa South of the Capital (题都城南庄).