Jué JùQuatrain 绝句
Orioles, egrets, snow and distant boats—Chengdu framed in four lines.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
两个黄鹂鸣翠柳
liǎng gè huáng lí míng cuì liǔ
一行白鹭上青天
yī xíng bái lù shàng qīng tiān
窗含西岭千秋雪
chuāng hán xī lǐng qiān qiū xuě
门泊东吴万里船
mén pō dōng wú wàn lǐ chuán
Simplified characters; traditional title: 絕句.
English translation
Two yellow orioles sing in the emerald willows;
a line of white egrets rises into the blue sky.
My window frames the western ranges' thousand-year snow;
at the gate, boats from Eastern Wu lie moored after ten thousand li.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Two orioles in green willows, a line of egrets into blue sky. The window holds western snow of a thousand autumns; at the gate, Wu boats from ten thousand li. A wide China fits in four lines.
Background
By Du Fu (盛唐).
Key words
- 两个 liǎng gè
- two; a pair
- 黄鹂 huáng lí
- the yellow oriole (Chinese oriole)
- 鸣翠 míng cuì
- crying in the green; singing among emerald
About the poet: Du Fu
Du Fu (also romanized Tu Fu) lived through the An Lushan Rebellion, which tore apart the Tang empire and his own family life. His precise, compassionate poems record war, poverty and loyalty, earning him the titles "Sage of Poetry" and "poet-historian."
Lifetime: 712–770. Other famous works: Happy Rain on a Spring Night (春夜喜雨); The Prime Minister of Shu (蜀相); The Officer at Shihao Village (石壕吏); Thoughts While Traveling at Night (旅夜书怀); Qujiang (曲江); Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan (江南逢李龟年); Ballad of the Army Carts (兵车行); Moonlit Night (月夜); Spring View (春望); Climbing High (登高); Quatrain: Two Orioles (绝句·两个黄鹂鸣翠柳); On Yueyang Tower (登岳阳楼); My Thatched Hut Torn by the Autumn Wind (茅屋为秋风所破歌); Gazing at Mount Tai (望岳); A Guest Arrives (客至); Strolling by the River V (江畔独步寻花 其五); Strolling Alone by the River in Search of Flowers (江畔独步寻花); River Village (江村); Winter Solstice Eve (小至); Thinking of Li Bai on a Spring Day (春日忆李白); Easing the Heart by the Water Rail (水槛遣心); Quatrain (绝句); Casual Quatrain (绝句漫兴); For General Hua (赠花卿).
More by Du Fu
- Spring View春望
- Quatrain (The River Blue)绝句
- Climbing High登高
- On Yueyang Tower登岳阳楼
- Moonlit Night月夜
- Happy Rain on a Spring Night春夜喜雨
- Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan江南逢李龟年
- Qujiang曲江