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Translation
Du Mu (803-852) | 杜牧 |
Overnight in a Lodge | 旅宿 |
In a lodge, without companion, | 旅館無良伴 |
I meditate in sorrow. | 凝情自悄然 |
It’s cold and by the lamp I ponder the past, | 寒燈思舊事 |
For a stray goose has woken me from anxious sleep. | 斷雁警愁眠 |
In my dream I travel far, returning with the coming dawn; | 遠夢歸侵曉 |
A letter from home arrives a year after it was sent. | 家書到隔年 |
Dark, green river, misty moon—how lovely; | 滄江好煙月 |
At the gate a fishing boat awaits. | 門繫釣魚船 |
Commentary
Du Mu wrote this poem after being away from home for a long time, likely on official duties. He is alone, without any friend or close companion, and thinks about his life as he drifts to sleep. While sleeping, the cry from a stay wild goose, separated from its pack wakes him. The wild goose cut off from his flock symbolizes the poet. Illustrating how far he is from home, letters do not arrive until the next year and even his dream journeys back home take a long time, not returning back until dawn. At the close he sees the lovely river and moon and dreams of a leisurely life at home fishing.
Original Chinese
Traditional | Simplified | Pronunciation |
杜牧 | 杜牧 | Dù Mù |
旅宿 | 旅宿 | Lǚ sù |
旅館無良伴， | 旅馆无良伴， | Lǚ guǎn wú liáng bàn， |
凝情自悄然。 | 凝情自悄然。 | Níng qíng zì qiǎo rán。 |
寒燈思舊事， | 寒灯思旧事， | Hán dēng sī jiù shì， |
斷雁警愁眠 | 断雁警愁眠。 | Duàn yàn jǐng chóu mián。 |
遠夢歸侵曉， | 远梦归侵晓， | Yuǎn mèng guī qīn xiǎo， |
家書到隔年。 | 家书到隔年。 | Jiā shū dào gé nián。 |
滄江好煙月， | 沧江好烟月， | Cāng jiāng hǎo yān yuè， |
門繫釣魚船。 | 门系钓鱼船。 | Mén xì diào yú chuán。 |
Translation Notes
杜牧 | Stop Shepherd [=Du Mu (803-852)] |
旅宿 | Trip Lodge(for the night) |
旅館無良伴， | Trip public-building no good companion [Trip public-building = inn or lodge] |
凝情自悄然。 | Concentrate feeling self silent certainly [Concentrate feeling = meditate and contemplate] [Silent certainly = lonely and melancholy, quietly, sorrowfully] |
寒燈思舊事， | Cold lamp ponder past matters |
斷雁警愁眠 | Cut-off wild-goose alarm anxious sleep [Cut-off wild-goose = the squeal of a stray wild goose] [Alarm = awake with a start] |
遠夢歸侵曉， | Distant dream return approaches dawn [Note: this line means that the poet is far away from home; in his dream he goes there, but it is so far away that his he does not return to himself until dawn.] |
家書到隔年。 | Home letter arrive separate year [Home letter = letter from home] [Separate year = the next year] |
滄江好煙月， | Dark-green river excellent mist moon [Mist moon = dim or hazy moon; the fog is covering the moon] |
門繫釣魚船。 | Gate tied fishhook fish boat [Fishhook fish = to fish] [Note: the last two lines means that the dark green river flows in the dim moonlight and a fishing boat is tied at the door. In other words, why not not return home and lead a leisurely life fishing instead of drifting about?] |
Year:
2013
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