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Classical Chinese

113 杜甫 旅夜書懷 translation: Thoughts on a Travelling Night, by Du Fu

This is a translation and annotation of the poem 旅夜書懷 (Lǚ Yè Shū Huái), “Thoughts on a Travelling Night”, by the Tang dynasty poet 杜甫 (Du Fu). The poem is number 113 in the collection 300 Tang Poems, and is also known by its first line: 細草微風岸 (Xì Cǎo Wēi Fēng Àn).

A bright moon at night 旅夜書懷

Lǚ Yè Shū Huái [travel] [night] [writing] [thought] Thoughts on a Travelling Night

細草微風岸， Xì cǎo wéifēng àn, [slender] [grass] [tiny] [wind] [shore] Slender grasses in a breeze on the shore;

危檣獨夜舟。 Wēi qiáng dú yè zhōu. [high] [mast] [lone] [night] [boat] a high mast alone in the night.

星垂平野闊， Xīng chuí píng yě kuò, [star] [hang] [level] [space] [broad] Stars hang level in broad space;

月湧大江流。 Yuè yǒng dàjiāng liú. [moon] [rush] [large] [river] [flow] the moon over the rush of a great river, flowing.

名豈文章著？ Míng qǐ wénzhāng zhù? [name] [how] [written works][] [make known] How can reputation come from written works?

官應老病休。 Guān yīng lǎo bìngxiū. [official] [should] [old] [sick] [retire] An official should, at old age and sickness, retire;

飄飄何所似？ Piāo piāo hé suǒ shì? [float] [float] [what] [that which is] [resemble] Floating and floating - what does that resemble?

天地一沙鷗。 Tiāndì yī shā'ōu. [heaven] [earth] [one] [sand] [gull] A single marsh bird in the whole world!

This poem is quite tricky to translate closely whilst expressing the intended meaning.

If you notice a mistake or disagree with the translation, please comment below to improve this resource.


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