Though rising high, you drink but dew;
Yet your voice flows from sparse plane trees.
Far and wide there's none but hears you;
You need no wings of autumn breeze.
Original Poem:
「蝉」
虞世南
垂緌饮清露，流响出疏桐。
居高声自远，非是藉秋风。
Interpretation:
This poem was the first cicada poem in the Tang Dynasty, and it was very much appreciated by later generations.
In the first two lines, the cicadas droop their tassel-like tentacles to suck the clear and sweet dew, and their continuous chirping sound is carried out from the sparse branches of the sycamore tree.
The first sentence is ostensibly about the shape and feeding habits of the cicadas, but in fact, it is a metaphorical symbol everywhere.
The second sentence describes the spread of cicada sound. Although the whole sentence is only about the sound of the cicadas, we can imagine the high standard and elegant rhyme of the personified cicadas. With the vivid description of the spread of the cicada's sound in this sentence, the play of the last two sentences is well-founded.
In the last two sentences, the cicada's voice can be heard far away precisely because it is in a high place, not by virtue of the power of the autumn wind.
Cicadas spread far and wide, and people tend to think that it is transmitted by the autumn wind, but the author has a special feeling, emphasizing that it is out of “living high” and can be far away by itself. This unique feeling implies a truth: cultivation and noble character of people, do not need some kind of external virtue, since the reputation far and wide. It highlights the beauty of a personality and emphasizes the power of personality.
The whole poem is a metaphor, the poet to cicadas noble and proud character self-comment, the image is complete and full, the rhyme is implicit and long, the description of the combination of static and dynamic, meticulous.
Poem translator:
Xu Yuan-chong (许渊冲)
About the poet:
Yu Shinan (虞世南), 558 A.D. - 638 A.D., was a native of Zhejiang Province. He was an accomplished writer and calligrapher.
