There are faint green mountains and far green waters,
And grasses in this river region not yet faded by autumn;
And clear in the moon on the Twenty-Four Bridges,
Girls white as jade are teaching flute-music.
Original Poem:
「寄扬州韩绰判官」
杜牧
青山隐隐水迢迢，秋尽江南草未凋。
二十四桥明月夜，玉人何处教吹箫？
Interpretation:
Yangzhou has been famous for its prosperity and style throughout the ages, and writers and artists have left many masterpieces for it. This poem has been popular for thousands of years because of its long rhyme and beautiful atmosphere. The poet served as an official in the office of Niu Sinru, the governor of Huainan, from 833 to 835 A.D., and later became the secretary of the palace, so this poem was written after he left Jiangnan.
This is a flirtatious poem titled as a gift to a friend. The first line begins with a big brushstroke, outlining a distant scene: green mountains and beautiful water, stretching endlessly, outlining the scenery of Jiangnan with its quiet mountains and beautiful water, and implying the distant distance between the author and his friend, and the gentle sound and rhyme seems to float Biao with the author’s soft and honeyed feelings of missing Jiangnan. The second sentence says that although it is late fall, the grass and trees in Jiangnan have not withered and the scenery is still the same. It is because the author can’t bear to see all the trees in the late fall, so he is very fond of the beautiful water and green mountains in Jiangnan, and more and more fond of the old man in the prosperous Yangzhou.
The third and fourth lines are supposed to greet the friend Han Chuo’s recent situation, but the poet used to tease him with jokes, and remotely asked him where he flirted with prostitutes at the end of the fall when the moon was bright and the wind was clear. Here, the suave Han Chuo’s talent is not only vaguely visible, the two deep and intimate friendship can be recounted.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Du Mu (杜牧), 803-853 AD, was a native of Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. Among the poets of the Late Tang Dynasty, he was one of those who had his own characteristics, and later people called Li Shangyin and Du Mu as “Little Li and Du”. His poems are bright and colorful.
