Shí Lì ZhīEating Lychees 食荔枝
Su Shi in exile in Huizhou eats three hundred lychees a day. Lychees ripen in summer.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
罗浮山下四时春
luó fú shān xià sì shí chūn
卢橘杨梅次第新
lú jú yáng méi cì dì xīn
日啖荔枝三百颗
rì dàn lì zhī sān bǎi kē
不辞长作岭南人
bù cí zhǎng zuò lǐng nán rén
Simplified characters; traditional title: 食荔枝.
English translation
Below Luofu Mountain it is spring all year;
loquats and bayberries ripen one after another.
Eat three hundred lychees a day,
and I wouldn't mind staying forever in the far south.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Su Shi in exile in Huizhou eats three hundred lychees a day. Lychees ripen in summer. The scene stays with you.
Background
Su Shi in exile in Huizhou eats three hundred lychees a day. Lychees ripen in summer.
Key words
- 荔枝 lì zhī
- key word in the poem
- 罗浮 luó fú
- key word in the poem
- 山下 shān xià
- key word in the poem
About the poet: Su Shi
Su Shi, better known as Su Dongpo, was a poet, essayist, painter, calligrapher and official — the great all-rounder of the Song dynasty. Repeatedly exiled, he met hardship with humor and philosophy, and made the ci (song lyric) a vehicle for grand themes.
Lifetime: 1037–1101. Other famous works: Prelude to Water Melody (When Will the Moon Be Clear?) (水调歌头); Spring Night (春夜); Remembering the Past at Red Cliff (念奴娇·赤壁怀古); Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple (题西林壁); Drinking at West Lake: First Sun, Then Rain (饮湖上初晴后雨); Red Cliff Rhapsody (赤壁赋); Gazing South from Chaoran Terrace (望江南); Drunk at Lake View Tower (六月二十七日望湖楼醉书); Spring River at Dusk (惠崇春江晚景); Crabapple (海棠); Silk-Washing Stream (浣溪沙); Silk-Washing Stream: Dragon Boat Festival (浣溪沙); Eating Lychees (食荔枝); On the Road to Xincheng (新城道中); Calming the Waves (定风波); For Liu Jingwen (赠刘景文).
More by Su Shi
- Spring Night春夜
- Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple题西林壁
- Drinking at West Lake: First Sun, Then Rain饮湖上初晴后雨
- Prelude to Water Melody (When Will the Moon Be Clear?)水调歌头
- Remembering the Past at Red Cliff念奴娇·赤壁怀古
- Gazing South from Chaoran Terrace望江南
- Drunk at Lake View Tower六月二十七日望湖楼醉书
- Spring River at Dusk惠崇春江晚景