dēng登kē科hòu后

Dēng kē means passing the imperial exam. When he was younger, Meng Jiao failed the top exam twice and felt very low. In 796 he finally passed, when he was already in his forties. In the Tang the results came out in spring, and the new graduates rode around Chang'an to enjoy the flowers and celebrate. Meng Jiao was overjoyed and wrote this poem.

“登科”就是考中科举。孟郊年轻时两次考进士都没考上，心里非常苦闷。唐德宗贞元十二年（796年），他终于考中了进士，这时他已经四十多岁了。唐朝放榜在春天，新考中的进士会在长安城里骑马游玩、赏花庆祝。孟郊高兴极了，写下了这首诗。

Meng Jiao (751–814) was a poet of the middle Tang. He was poor all his life and only held small posts. His poems often speak of hardship and sorrow, so people paired him with Jia Dao as "cold Meng and thin Jia". The well-known "Song of the Traveling Son", about a mother sewing for her son, is his. This poem is one of his rare happy ones.

孟郊（751—814），字东野，中唐诗人。他一生贫穷，做的官也很小，诗里常写贫苦和愁闷，和贾岛并称“郊寒岛瘦”。大家熟悉的《游子吟》“慈母手中线”就是他写的。这首《登科后》是他少有的欢快之作。

This poem shows joy in a direct, unrestrained way. The first two lines make a contrast: the hard days of the past are not worth a word, and today his heart is like a bird let out of a cage. The last two lines show him riding fast through Chang'an. The spring breeze is a real breeze, and also the happiness inside him. "In a single day I see every flower in Chang'an" - the city is huge and full of flowers, so how could he see them all in one day? That is the exaggeration: he is so happy that he wants to see every lovely thing at once. Reading it, we feel the joy of someone who waited many years and finally succeeded.

这首诗把“高兴”写得又直接又痛快。前两句一比：过去的苦日子不值一提，今天心里像打开了笼子，思绪飞得没有边。后两句写他骑着马在长安城里飞跑。“春风得意”四个字，春风是真的春风，也是他心里的喜气。“一日看尽长安花”，长安那么大，花那么多，一天怎么看得完？这正是夸张：他太高兴了，恨不得一下子把所有的美景都看遍。读这首诗，我们能感到一个等了很多年的人，终于成功时那种忍不住的快乐。