Autumn Meditations (1)
Du Fu
Du Fu
秋兴八首 (一)
玉露凋伤枫树林
巫山巫峡气萧森
江间波浪兼天涌
塞上风云接地阴
丛菊两开他日泪
孤舟一系故园心
寒衣处处催刀尺
白帝城高急暮砧
玉露凋伤枫树林
巫山巫峡气萧森
江间波浪兼天涌
塞上风云接地阴
丛菊两开他日泪
孤舟一系故园心
寒衣处处催刀尺
白帝城高急暮砧
qiū xìng bā shǒu (yī)
yù lù diāo shāng fēng shù lín
wū shān wū xiá qì xiāo sēn
jiāng jiān bō làng jiān tiān yǒng
sài shàng fēng yún jiē dì yīn
cóng jú liǎng kāi tā rì lèi
gū zhōu yí xì gù yuán xīn
hán yī chù chù cuī dāo chǐ
bái dì chéng gāo jí mù zhēn
yù lù diāo shāng fēng shù lín
wū shān wū xiá qì xiāo sēn
jiāng jiān bō làng jiān tiān yǒng
sài shàng fēng yún jiē dì yīn
cóng jú liǎng kāi tā rì lèi
gū zhōu yí xì gù yuán xīn
hán yī chù chù cuī dāo chǐ
bái dì chéng gāo jí mù zhēn
Jade dew wither wound maple forest
Wu mountain wu gorge air desolate and dreary
River on wave meet sky surge
Pass on wind cloud join earth dark
Shrub chrysanthemum two open it day tear
Single boat one link hometown heart
Cold clothes place place urge knife measure
Baidicheng high urgent evening flat stone
Wu mountain wu gorge air desolate and dreary
River on wave meet sky surge
Pass on wind cloud join earth dark
Shrub chrysanthemum two open it day tear
Single boat one link hometown heart
Cold clothes place place urge knife measure
Baidicheng high urgent evening flat stone
Jade dew withers and wounds the groves of maple trees,
On Wu mountain, in Wu gorge, the air is dull and drear.
On the river surging waves rise to meet the sky,
Above the pass wind and cloud join the earth with darkness.
Chrysanthemum bushes open twice, weeping for their days,
A lonely boat, a single line, my heart is full of home.
Winter clothes everywhere are urgently cut and measured,
Baidicheng above, the evening's driven by beating on stones.
On Wu mountain, in Wu gorge, the air is dull and drear.
On the river surging waves rise to meet the sky,
Above the pass wind and cloud join the earth with darkness.
Chrysanthemum bushes open twice, weeping for their days,
A lonely boat, a single line, my heart is full of home.
Winter clothes everywhere are urgently cut and measured,
Baidicheng above, the evening's driven by beating on stones.
View Chinese text in traditional characters.
Other Chinese poems about Autumn.
Notes: This poem dates from 766 (Watson p. 129). Baidicheng (White Emperor City) was a fortress at Kuizhou, west of the Three Gorges, named after the god of the west and autumn (Owen pp. 433-4). Wu gorge is the central gorge; Wu mountain stands to its north (Owen p. 434). The beating of cloth on stones was part of the preparation of winter clothes (Watson p. 126).
This poem is volume (juàn) 230, no. 2 in the Complete Tang Poems (quán táng shī). It is translated on p. 434 of Owen and p. 81 of Hinton, and as poem 109 in Watson, p. 129 and poem CCLXXXI in Hung, p. 233.
Hinton, D. (1990) The Selected Poems of Tu Fu. London, Anvil Press Poetry.
Hung, W. (1952) Tu Fu: China's Greatest Poet. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press.
Owen, S. (1996) An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. New York/London, W. W. Norton.
Watson, B. (2002) The Selected Poems of Du Fu. New York, Columbia University Press.
