Qiū CíAutumn Song 秋词
Liu Yuxi refuses to be sad in autumn.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
自古逢秋悲寂寥
zì gǔ féng qiū bēi jì liáo
我言秋日胜春朝
wǒ yán qiū rì shèng chūn zhāo
晴空一鹤排云上
qíng kōng yī hè pái yún shàng
便引诗情到碧霄
biàn yǐn shī qíng dào bì xiāo
Simplified characters; traditional title: 秋詞.
English translation
Since olden days we feel in autumn sad and drear;
But I say spring cannot compete with autumn clear.
On a fine day a crane cleaves the clouds and soars high;
It leads the poet's lofty mind to azure sky.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Chinese poetry since the "Songs of Chu" had treated autumn as sad. Liu Yuxi flatly disagrees. His proof is a single crane breaking through the clouds in a clear sky and pulling his poetic spirit up with it. Coming from an exile, the defiance is all the more striking.
Background
The first of two "Autumn Songs," written during Liu Yuxi's exile in Langzhou (Hunan) after the failed reforms of 805.
Key words
- 寂寥 jì liáo
- lonely, desolate
- 排云 pái yún
- pushing through clouds
- 碧霄 bì xiāo
- the blue sky
About the poet: Liu Yuxi
Liu Yuxi, a close friend of Liu Zongyuan and Bai Juyi, spent over twenty years in exile after the failed reform of 805. Bai Juyi called him the "hero of poetry" for his resilient, witty spirit.
Lifetime: 772–842. Other famous works: Black Robe Lane (乌衣巷); Autumn Song (秋词); The Autumn Wind (秋风引); An Inscription for My Humble Room (陋室铭).