Tang poem · five-character old-style poem唐诗 · 五言古诗

xià夏rì日nán南tíng亭huái怀xīn辛dà大

mèng孟hào浩rán然Meng Haoran · Tang唐

Thinking of Xin the Eldest in the South Pavilion on a Summer Day

shān山guāng光hū忽xī西luò落

chí池yuè月jiàn渐dōng东shàng上

sàn散fà发chéng乘xī夕liáng凉

kāi开xuān轩wò卧xián闲chǎng敞

hé荷fēng风sòng送xiāng香qì气

zhú竹lù露dī滴qīng清xiǎng响

yù欲qǔ取míng鸣qín琴tán弹

hèn恨wú无zhī知yīn音shǎng赏

gǎn感cǐ此huái怀gù故rén人

zhōng中xiāo宵láo劳mèng梦xiǎng想

Underlined words have notes: tap one. The Pinyin button below shows or hides all pinyin. 一 and 不 are marked with the tone you actually say.字下有虚线的，点开有注释。下方的“拼音”按钮可以显示或隐藏全部拼音。“一”“不”标的是实际读出来的变调。

Line by line逐句翻译

山光忽西落The sunlight on the hills suddenly sinks in the west,照在山上的太阳忽然落到西边去了，
池月渐东上and the moon over the pond slowly rises in the east.池塘上的月亮慢慢从东边升起来。
散发乘夕凉I let my hair down to enjoy the cool of evening,我散开头发，趁着傍晚的凉爽，
开轩卧闲敞open the window, and lie down in a quiet, airy spot.打开窗子，躺在安静宽敞的地方。
荷风送香气A breeze from the lotus pond brings its sweet scent;风从荷花上吹过来，送来阵阵清香；
竹露滴清响dew drips from the bamboo leaves with a clear little sound.竹叶上的露水滴下来，发出清脆的响声。
欲取鸣琴弹I would like to take up my zither and play,我想拿起琴来弹一曲，
恨无知音赏but sadly there is no true friend here to listen.可惜没有懂我琴声的知音来听。
感此怀故人This makes me think of my old friend,想到这里，我就怀念起老朋友来，
中宵劳梦想and at midnight I still long for him in my dreams.半夜里还在梦中苦苦地想他。

Words字词注释

山光shān guāng: shān guāng: sunlight on the hills.山光：照在山上的阳光。
西落xī luò: xī luò: the sun sinking in the west.西落：太阳往西边落下去。
池月chí yuè: chí yuè: the moon over the pond, and its reflection in the water.池月：池塘上空的月亮，也指池水里映出的月亮。
散发sàn fà: sàn fà: letting the hair down. People then usually tied up their hair and wore a cap, so letting it down meant being fully relaxed.散发：把头发散开。古人平时要把头发束起来、戴上帽子，散开头发表示很放松、很自在。
乘夕凉chéng xī liáng: chéng xī liáng: making the most of the evening cool. Chéng means to take advantage of.乘夕凉：趁着傍晚的凉爽。乘，趁着。
开轩kāi xuān: kāi xuān: opening the window. Xuān is a window.开轩：打开窗子。轩，窗。
闲敞xián chǎng: xián chǎng: a quiet, open, airy spot.闲敞：安静又宽敞的地方。
荷风hé fēng: hé fēng: a breeze from over the lotus pond.荷风：从荷花池上吹来的风。
竹露zhú lù: zhú lù: dew on the bamboo leaves.竹露：竹叶上的露水。
清响qīng xiǎng: qīng xiǎng: a clear, crisp sound.清响：清脆的声音。
鸣琴míng qín: míng qín: a zither, the old seven-string qin, called "sounding" because it rings when played.鸣琴：琴。古琴弹起来会发出声音，所以叫“鸣琴”。
恨hèn: hèn: to regret, to be sorry that.恨：遗憾，可惜。
知音zhī yīn: zhī yīn: a friend who truly understands you, literally "one who knows the music". Legend says only Zhong Ziqi understood Bo Ya's playing, and when Zhong Ziqi died, Bo Ya never played again.知音：真正听得懂你、理解你的朋友。传说伯牙弹琴，只有钟子期听得懂；钟子期死后，伯牙就再也不弹琴了。
感此gǎn cǐ: gǎn cǐ: moved by all this.感此：被这些触动。
故人gù rén: gù rén: an old friend, here Xin the Eldest.故人：老朋友，这里指辛大。
中宵zhōng xiāo: zhōng xiāo: midnight.中宵：半夜。
劳梦想láo mèng xiǎng: láo mèng xiǎng: longing for him even in dreams. Láo means to toil, to wear oneself out.劳梦想：在梦里也苦苦地想念。劳，辛苦。

How to read it读音

散sàn: sàn fà: to let the hair down, read sàn.散发：把头发散开，读 sàn。
发fà: Here the character means hair, so it is read fà, not fā.这里的“发”是头发，读 fà，不读 fā。

Background创作背景

Meng Haoran wrote this poem while living quietly in his hometown of Xiangyang, in today's Hubei. One summer evening he was cooling off in a pavilion on the south side and thought of his good friend Xin the Eldest. "Eldest" shows that this friend was the first-born in his family. One view is that he was Xin E, another friend named in Meng's poems. The year of the poem is not known.

这首诗是孟浩然在家乡襄阳（今湖北襄阳）隐居时写的。一个夏天的傍晚，他在南边的亭子里乘凉，想起了好朋友辛大。“大”是排行，说明这位朋友在家里排第一。一说辛大就是孟浩然诗里另一位朋友辛谔。诗写于哪一年，已经说不清了。

The poet作者

Meng Haoran (689–740) was a Tang poet who spent most of his life living quietly in his hometown of Xiangyang. He and Wang Wei are named together as the great poets of hills, rivers and farm life. His words are plain and natural but full of flavor, as in "Spring Morning". This poem is just as easy and natural, and reads like a cool breeze.

孟浩然（689—740），唐代诗人，大半辈子住在家乡襄阳，过着隐居的生活。他和王维一起被称为“王孟”，最会写山水田园的风景。他的诗语言平淡自然，却很有味道，比如《春晓》。这首诗也是写得轻松自然，读起来像一阵凉风。

The mood意境

The first six lines show a cool summer night. The sun sets, the moon rises, and the poet lets down his hair, opens the window and lies down, fully at ease. Then come the two loveliest lines: the breeze brings the scent of lotus, and dew drops from the bamboo with a tiny sound. One line is about smell, the other about sound. It is so quiet that he can hear the dew fall. On such a lovely night he wants to play his zither, but there is no friend who understands his music. Suddenly he feels empty, and he starts to miss his old friend, even in his dreams at midnight. The poem moves gently from a cool scene to deep longing, and the turn feels natural.

前六句写一个凉爽的夏夜。太阳落山，月亮升起，诗人散开头发，打开窗子躺着，整个人都放松了。接着最妙的两句：荷花的香气被风送过来，竹叶上的露水“嘀嗒”一声落下。一句写闻到的，一句写听到的，周围安静得连露水滴落都听得见。这么美的夜晚，诗人想弹琴，却想到没有知音来听。于是心里一下子空了，开始想念老朋友，连半夜做梦都在想他。全诗从清凉的景色慢慢转到深深的思念，过渡得很自然。