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Xī Jiāng YuèWest River Moon 西江月
Xin Qiji walks by rice fields on a summer night and hears frogs promise a good harvest.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
明月别枝惊鹊
míng yuè bié zhī jīng què
清风半夜鸣蝉
qīng fēng bàn yè míng chán
稻花香里说丰年
dào huā xiāng lǐ shuō fēng nián
听取蛙声一片
tīng qǔ wā shēng yī piàn
Simplified characters; traditional title: 西江月. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.
Note on the text: This page presents a well-known excerpt; the full poem is longer in the traditional corpus.
English translation
The bright moon on a slanting branch startles the magpie;
a clear breeze at midnight, the cicadas sing.
Amid the scent of rice flowers, talk of a bumper year;
listen — a whole chorus of frogs.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Xin Qiji walks by rice fields on a summer night and hears frogs promise a good harvest. The scene stays with you.
Background
Xin Qiji walks by rice fields on a summer night and hears frogs promise a good harvest.
Key words
- 明月 míng yuè
- key word in the poem
- 别枝 bié zhī
- key word in the poem
- 惊鹊 jīng què
- key word in the poem
About the poet: Xin Qiji
Xin Qiji is a leading ci poet of the Southern Song, writing in both heroic and delicate modes.
Lifetime: 1140–1207. Other famous works: Green Jade Cup: Lantern Festival (青玉案); Clear Calm Music: Village Life (清平乐); West River Moon (西江月); Partridge Sky (鹧鸪天).