Home › Poems › Waking from an Early-Summer Nap
Xián Jū Chū Xià Wǔ Shuì QǐWaking from an Early-Summer Nap 闲居初夏午睡起
Yang Wanli wakes from an early summer nap and watches children catch willow fluff.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
梅子留酸软齿牙
méi zi liú suān ruǎn chǐ yá
芭蕉分绿与窓纱
bā jiāo fēn lǜ yǔ chuāng shā
日长睡起无情思
rì zhǎng shuì qǐ wú qíng sī
闲看儿童捉柳花
xián kàn ér tóng zhuō liǔ huā
Simplified characters; traditional title: 閒居初夏午睡起.
English translation
Plums leave a sourness that softens the teeth;
banana leaves share their green with the window gauze.
The days are long; I wake from a nap with nothing on my mind,
and idly watch the children chasing willow fluff.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Yang Wanli wakes from an early summer nap and watches children catch willow fluff. The scene stays with you.
Background
Yang Wanli wakes from an early summer nap and watches children catch willow fluff.
Key words
- 梅子 méi zi
- key word in the poem
- 留酸 liú suān
- key word in the poem
- 软齿 ruǎn chǐ
- key word in the poem
About the poet: Yang Wanli
Yang Wanli developed a fresh, witty style that captured small moments of nature as if seen for the first time. He wrote over four thousand surviving poems.
Lifetime: 1127–1206. Other famous works: The Little Pond (小池); A Child Playing with Ice (稚子弄氷); Leaving Jingci Temple at Dawn (晓出净慈寺送林子方); Waking from an Early-Summer Nap (闲居初夏午睡起); Seeking Cool on a Summer Night (夏夜追凉); Boating Past Anren (舟过安仁); At Xu's Inn in Xinshi (宿新市徐公店).
More by Yang Wanli
- The Little Pond小池
- A Child Playing with Ice稚子弄氷
- Leaving Jingci Temple at Dawn晓出净慈寺送林子方
- Seeking Cool on a Summer Night夏夜追凉
- Boating Past Anren舟过安仁
- At Xu's Inn in Xinshi宿新市徐公店