Grass has run wild now by the Bridge of Red-Birds;
And swallows' wings, at sunset, in Blacktail Row
Where once they visited great homes,
Dip among doorways of the poor.
Original Poem:
「乌衣巷」
刘禹锡
朱雀桥边野草花， 乌衣巷口夕阳斜。
旧时王谢堂前燕， 飞入寻常百姓家。
Interpretation:
This poem is one of Liu Yuxi's best-known pieces of nostalgia for ancient times.
The first two lines of the poem are: The cold and desolate weeds by the Vermilion Bird Bridge have blossomed, and the broken walls at the entrance of Wuyi Alley are exactly where the setting sun hangs diagonally.
The Vermilion Bird Bridge spans the Qinhuai River in Nanjing and is a necessary route from the city center to Wuyi Alley. The weeds and wildflowers overgrown by the bridge add to the scenery a desolate weather, which makes us think that it may contain a deep meaning. It is written that Wuyi Lane is not only set against the backdrop of the old bridge, which is in a state of decay and desolation, but also in the waning light of the slanting sun. In its heyday, the entrance to Wuyi Alley was bustling with traffic, people coming and going. Now it is completely shrouded in an atmosphere of loneliness.
The last two lines: the swallows under the eaves of Wang Guan and Xie An have now flown into the homes of ordinary people.
Next, the poet continues to use the scenery to depict, he unexpectedly suddenly turned his brush to the swallows nesting in the sky over Wuyi Lane, letting people along the direction of the swallows' flight to identify, nowadays Wuyi Lane has been inhabited by ordinary people's homes. In order to make the readers understand the poet's intention, the author points out that the swallows flying into the people's houses used to be the old swallows perched on the eaves and purlins of the tall halls of Wang Xie Quanmen.
The author seizes the characteristic of swallows as migratory birds that have old nests, suggests the prosperity of Wuyi Lane in the past, and highlights the contrast between the present and the past. The poem is beautifully conceived, with a kind of implicit beauty that is intriguing.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Liu Yuxi(刘禹锡), 772 - 842 AD, was a native of Hebei. He was a progressive statesman and thinker in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, and a poet with unique achievements in this period. In his compositions, there is no lack of poems reflecting current affairs and the plight of the people.
