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Yì Jiāng NánRemembering the South 忆江南
Bai Juyi remembers spring south of the Yangtze: river flowers redder than fire.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
江南好
jiāng nán hǎo
风景旧曾谙
fēng jǐng jiù céng ān
日出江花红胜火
rì chū jiāng huā hóng shèng huǒ
春来江水绿如蓝
chūn lái jiāng shuǐ lǜ rú lán
能不忆江南
néng bù yì jiāng nán
Simplified characters; traditional title: 憶江南.
English translation
The south is lovely;
its scenery I once knew well.
At sunrise, river flowers redder than fire;
in spring, river water green as indigo.
How could I not remember the south?
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
When I recall Jiangnan: sunrise flowers redder than fire, spring water green as indigo. Color alone lifts homesickness.
Background
Bai Juyi remembers spring south of the Yangtze: river flowers redder than fire.
Key words
- 忆江南 yì jiāng nán
- key word in the poem
- 江花 jiāng huā
- key word in the poem
- 江水 jiāng shuǐ
- key word in the poem
About the poet: Bai Juyi
Bai Juyi (also romanized Po Chü-i; courtesy name Letian) wrote in a famously plain style — legend says he read drafts to an old woman and revised anything she could not understand. An outspoken official, he was exiled to Jiangzhou and later governed Hangzhou and Suzhou. His poems were hugely popular in Heian Japan.
Lifetime: 772–846. Other famous works: On the Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month, on Duty in the Palace, Thinking of Yuan Zhen (八月十五日夜禁中独直对月忆元九); A Question for Liu the Nineteenth (问刘十九); A New Mountain Cottage Below Incense Burner Peak, Written on the East Wall (香炉峰下新卜山居草堂初成偶题东壁); Grass on the Ancient Plain: A Farewell (赋得古原草送别); Song of Everlasting Sorrow (长恨歌); The Song of the Lute (琵琶行); The Old Charcoal Seller (卖炭翁); Evening Song by the River (暮江吟); On the Pond (池上); White Cloud Spring (白云泉); Remembering the South (忆江南); Sent to Xianyou Temple (送王十八归山寄题仙游寺); Lotus-Picking Song (采莲曲); Spring Walk by Qiantang Lake (钱塘湖春行); To Yin, Master of Music (寄殷协律); Spring on the Lake (春题湖上); Peach Blossoms at Dalin Temple (大林寺桃花); Night Snow (夜雪).
More by Bai Juyi
- A New Mountain Cottage Below Incense Burner Peak, Written on the East Wall香炉峰下新卜山居草堂初成偶题东壁
- Song of Everlasting Sorrow长恨歌
- Grass on the Ancient Plain: A Farewell赋得古原草送别
- A Question for Liu the Nineteenth问刘十九
- On the Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month, on Duty in the Palace, Thinking of Yuan Zhen八月十五日夜禁中独直对月忆元九
- Evening Song by the River暮江吟
- On the Pond池上
- White Cloud Spring白云泉