Home › Poems › Mooring on the Qinhuai River
Bó Qín HuáiMooring on the Qinhuai River 泊秦淮
Du Mu hears a doomed dynasty's song still being sung.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
烟笼寒水月笼沙
yān lóng hán shuǐ yuè lóng shā
夜泊秦淮近酒家
yè bó qín huái jìn jiǔ jiā
商女不知亡国恨
shāng nǚ bù zhī wáng guó hèn
隔江犹唱后庭花
gé jiāng yóu chàng hòu tíng huā
Simplified characters; traditional title: 泊秦淮.
English translation
Cold water veiled in mist and shores steeped in moonlight,
I moor by riverside wine-shop on Qinhuai at night.
The songstress knows not the grief of a captive king;
Still she sings across the river "Flowers in the Rear Court."
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
The first line repeats "veils" (笼) to wrap the scene in mist and moonlight. The second couplet strikes hard: the singers perform the very song associated with a dynasty that fell through pleasure-seeking. The real target is not the singing girls but the officials who listen, unaware that the Tang may be heading the same way.
Background
The Qinhuai River in Nanjing was lined with taverns and pleasure houses. "Flowers in the Rear Courtyard" was composed by the last ruler of the Chen dynasty, whose kingdom fell in 589 while he indulged in music.
Key words
- 笼 lóng
- to veil, to envelop
- 商女 shāng nǚ
- singing girls
- 后庭花 Hòutíng Huā
- "Flowers in the Rear Courtyard," a song of the fallen Chen
About the poet: Du Mu
Du Mu, grandson of a chief minister, was an official and a stylish writer of quatrains. With Li Shangyin he is known as one of the "Little Li and Du" of the late Tang, prized for vivid scenes tinged with history and melancholy.
Lifetime: 803–852. Other famous works: Written at the Wujiang Pavilion (题乌江亭); Passing Huaqing Palace (过华清宫); Qingming (清明); Spring in Jiangnan (江南春); Mooring on the Qinhuai River (泊秦淮); Mountain Walk (山行); Autumn View in Chang'an (长安秋望); For Han Chuo in Yangzhou (寄扬州韩绰判官); The Pond Behind Qi'an (齐安郡后池绝句); Autumn Evening (秋夕).
More by Du Mu
- Mountain Walk山行
- Qingming清明
- Spring in Jiangnan江南春
- Written at the Wujiang Pavilion题乌江亭
- Passing Huaqing Palace过华清宫
- Autumn View in Chang'an长安秋望
- For Han Chuo in Yangzhou寄扬州韩绰判官
- The Pond Behind Qi'an齐安郡后池绝句