I awake light-hearted this morning of spring,
Everywhere round me the singing of birds --
But now I remember the night, the storm,
And I wonder how many blossoms were broken.
Original Poem:
「春晓」
孟浩然
春眠不觉晓，处处闻啼鸟。
夜来风雨声，花落知多少。
Interpretation:
Spring, is thriving. Spring morning, more business: birds singing everywhere, after the night storm, the ground is full of fallen flowers. From the fallen flowers, one can associate it with the flowers and trees. The poet took this feature, only with a few light strokes, for the reader to outline a picture of the spring dawn.
This poem is meant to cherish spring. The poet chose a side, spring, there are charming colors, intoxicating fragrance, the poet does not write, but from the auditory point of view of writing the sound of spring, used to render the beautiful scene of outdoor spring. “Everywhere”, chirping up and down, near and far, so that people have to be in the yin road, the sense of overwhelmed. Only a few light strokes to write out the sunny side of the good, rain is also strange flourishing spring. The last two lines from happy spring turned to hurt spring, cherish spring, but this hurt and cherish is because of the love of spring, the dashing spring rain also caused the poet’s worry about the flowers and trees, this idle more or less reveals the unfortunate circumstances of the individual. The jump of time, the alternation of cloud and sunshine, and the subtle change of feelings in the poem are all very interesting and can bring people endless flavor.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Meng Haoran (孟浩然), 689-740 AD, a native of Xiangyang, Hubei, was a famous poet of the Sheng Tang Dynasty. With the exception of one trip to the north when he was in his forties, when he was seeking fame in Chang’an and Luoyang, he spent most of his life in seclusion in his hometown of Lumenshan or roaming around.
