Solitary at the tavern,
I am shut in with loneliness and grief.
Under the cold lamp, I brood on the past;
I am kept awake by a lost wildgoose.
...Roused at dawn from a misty dream,
I read, a year late, news from home --
And I remember the moon like smoke on the river
And a fisher-boat moored there, under my door.
Original Poem:
「旅宿」
杜牧
旅馆无良伴，凝情自悄然。
寒灯思旧事，断雁警愁眠。
远梦归侵晓，家书到隔年。
沧江好烟月，门系钓鱼船。
Interpretation:
Du Mu’s poem expresses the poet’s sadness of being a guest in a hotel and homesick for his family.
Alone in the inn, without a good companion to chat to send the pain, sitting alone in meditation, can not help but melancholy sadness, sadness. Both point out the purpose of the title, but also for the whole poem laid the emotional tone of grief.
The poet sits alone in the guest house, facing the oil lamp shivering in the cold wind, touching the scene of sadness, past events come to mind. The “old things”, of course, are the “old things” of the past when I was at home with my relatives, and I feel that I am now traveling to another country, alone, unusually lonely, and it is difficult to sleep at night.
Then the meaning goes one level further, due to the distance of thousands of mountains and thousands of miles from home, dreaming until the break of dawn, is the dream of returning home. However, the dream of returning to one’s hometown is very short-lived, and even if one wants to talk about it, it is very difficult to do so. Even if I were to say that I dream of returning to my hometown, it would be very difficult to do so. Here, the words “at daybreak” and “every other year” are contrasted.
Finally, there is another perspective. Since I have been away from home for a long time, I am envious of the fishing boats outside the hotel because they are moored right in front of my house. The sight of things, touching the scene of sadness, a long time away from home, wandering, no support, have a home hard to return to the strands of sadness can not help but surging to the heart.
Du Mu’s poetry is characterized by a bright and flowing flow, and this poem has distinctive imagery, clear images, and a subtle and coherent lyricism.
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.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
