The sunlit CenserPeak exhales incense-like cloud;
Like anupended stream the cataract sounds loud.
Its torrentdashes down three thousand feet from high,
As if theSilver River fell from the blue sky.
Original Poem:
「望庐山瀑布」
李白
日照香炉生紫烟，遥看瀑布挂前川。
飞流直下三千尺，疑是银河落九天。
Interpretation:
The poem is written in a majestic manner. The poet will Mount Lu a most typical scenic spot with a large hand, depicted unrestrained ethereal, tangible and divine.
The first line is written in a big scene: a top of the incense burner, rising a mass of white smoke, misty in the green mountains between the blue sky, in the red sun into a purple cloud. This is not only the incense burner peak rendered very beautiful, but also extremely rich in romanticism, for the unusual waterfall to create a different scenario.
The second sentence is about a small scene: from a distance, the waterfall looks like a huge white train hanging between the mountains and rivers. Here, the image of the pouring waterfall in the “distant view” is beautifully expressed. Who can hang up this huge white train? No mortal can do it. So the word “hang” also contains the poet’s praise of the magical power of nature.
The third sentence of the second sentence describes the dynamic beauty of the waterfall. A “fly” word is the waterfall gushing and rushing out of the scene vividly, both describe the mountain of the high steep, but also to see the rapid flow of water, the high altitude straight down, unstoppable situation has a kind of immersive feeling.
Finally, the poet is not enough, add their own imagination: it may be the Milky Way water from the nine heavens above the cascade down it! Really want to fall out of the sky, amazing soul. You see, the towering Xianglu Peak hidden in the clouds in the smoke, waterfalls such as from the clouds straight down, in the air and fall, which is naturally associated with like the Milky Way from the sky. Although it is an exaggeration, but very natural, the whole image of the waterfall has become more colorful, majestic and magnificent; although it is a novelty, but it is very real, both leave a deep impression, but also give a person a rich imagination.
Poem translator:
Xu Yuan-chong(许渊冲)
About the poet:
Li Bai (李白), 701 ~ 762 A.D., whose ancestral home was in Gansu, was preceded by Li Guang, a general of the Han Dynasty. Tang poetry is one of the brightest constellations in the history of Chinese literature, and one of the brightest stars is Li Bai.
