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Guò Gù Rén ZhuāngVisiting an Old Friend's Farm 过故人庄
Meng Haoran's simple, happy day in the countryside.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
故人具鸡黍
gù rén jù jī shǔ
邀我至田家
yāo wǒ zhì tián jiā
绿树村边合
lǜ shù cūn biān hé
青山郭外斜
qīng shān guō wài xié
开轩面场圃
kāi xuān miàn chǎng pǔ
把酒话桑麻
bǎ jiǔ huà sāng má
待到重阳日
dài dào chóng yáng rì
还来就菊花
huán lái jiù jú huā
Simplified characters; traditional title: 過故人莊.
English translation
My old friend prepared chicken and millet,
And invited me to his farm.
Green trees close round the village edge;
Blue hills slant beyond the outer wall.
We open the window on the threshing ground,
And over wine talk of mulberry and hemp.
When the Double Ninth comes round again,
I will return for the chrysanthemums.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Nothing dramatic happens: a plain meal, a view of trees and hills, conversation about crops. That plainness is the poem's charm, and its language is as simple as its subject. The last couplet, inviting himself back for the chrysanthemum festival, shows how much the visit meant without any statement of feeling.
Background
Written while Meng Haoran lived in retirement near Xiangyang; it is a model of the Tang pastoral poem.
Key words
- 鸡黍 jī shǔ
- chicken and millet, a simple country meal
- 郭 guō
- the outer city wall
- 桑麻 sāng má
- mulberry and hemp, i.e. farming
- 重阳 chóng yáng
- the Double Ninth Festival
About the poet: Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran spent most of his life as a recluse near his home of Xiangyang, never holding high office. A friend of Li Bai and Wang Wei, he is a leading voice of the Tang "landscape and pastoral" school, admired for plain words and quiet feeling.
Lifetime: 689–740. Other famous works: Spring Dawn (春晓); Visiting an Old Friend's Farm (过故人庄); Mooring on the Jiande River (宿建德江); Looking at Dongting Lake (望洞庭湖赠张丞相).