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Chūn Yè Xǐ YǔHappy Rain on a Spring Night 春夜喜雨
Du Fu's quiet rain that brings spring to life.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
好雨知时节
hǎo yǔ zhī shí jié
当春乃发生
dāng chūn nǎi fā shēng
随风潜入夜
suí fēng qián rù yè
润物细无声
rùn wù xì wú shēng
野径云俱黑
yě jìng yún jù hēi
江船火独明
jiāng chuán huǒ dú míng
晓看红湿处
xiǎo kàn hóng shī chù
花重锦官城
huā zhòng jǐn guān chéng
Simplified characters; traditional title: 春夜喜雨.
English translation
Good rain knows its time right;
It will fall when comes spring.
With wind it steals in night;
Mute, it moistens each thing.
Over wild lanes dark cloud spreads;
In boat a lantern looms.
Dawn sees saturated reds;
The town's heavy with blooms.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Du Fu treats the rain as a thoughtful person that "knows" when it is needed and arrives quietly at night. The famous couplet "随风潜入夜，润物细无声" is now used to praise good teachers and gentle influence. Dark clouds and a single lamp set the night scene; dawn reveals the result, flowers heavy with water across the whole city.
Background
Written in 761 at Du Fu's thatched cottage in Chengdu, one of the most peaceful periods of his life.
Key words
- 乃 nǎi
- then
- 潜 qián
- to slip in quietly
- 润物 rùn wù
- to moisten all things
- 锦官城 Jǐnguān Chéng
- City of Brocade, Chengdu
About the poet: Du Fu
Du Fu (also romanized Tu Fu) lived through the An Lushan Rebellion, which tore apart the Tang empire and his own family life. His precise, compassionate poems record war, poverty and loyalty, earning him the titles "Sage of Poetry" and "poet-historian."
Lifetime: 712–770. Other famous works: Happy Rain on a Spring Night (春夜喜雨); The Prime Minister of Shu (蜀相); The Officer at Shihao Village (石壕吏); Thoughts While Traveling at Night (旅夜书怀); Qujiang (曲江); Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan (江南逢李龟年); Ballad of the Army Carts (兵车行); Moonlit Night (月夜); Spring View (春望); Climbing High (登高); Quatrain: Two Orioles (绝句·两个黄鹂鸣翠柳); On Yueyang Tower (登岳阳楼); My Thatched Hut Torn by the Autumn Wind (茅屋为秋风所破歌).
Names from this poem
More by Du Fu
- Spring View春望
- Quatrain (The River Blue)绝句
- Climbing High登高
- On Yueyang Tower登岳阳楼
- Moonlit Night月夜
- Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan江南逢李龟年
- Qujiang曲江
- The Officer at Shihao Village石壕吏