Ye Dan (Associate Research Librarian of Hangzhou Public Library)
Hello everyone! I used to work as a Chinese teacher in an elementary school for years and reading poetry is one of my hobbies. Insect awakening, the third term in the lunar year will arrive on March 5. 2022, signaling a rise in temperature and increased rainfall. So, let’s read a Tang poem about spring rain，Happy Rain on a Spring Night，written by Du Fu (712-770), translated by Prof. Xu Yuanchong（1921-2021）.
Happy Rain on a Spring Night
Good rain knows its time right,
It will fall when comes spring.
With wind it steals in night;
Mute, it wets everything.
Over wild lanes dark cloud spreads;
In boat a lantern looms.
Dawn sees saturated reds;
The town's heavy with blooms.
It is an interesting perspective to appreciate poetry by seasons. I recommend Poetry of Four Seasons, an interpretation for selected Tang Poetry, written by Prof. Meng Man. She selected Tang poetry based on four seasons, displaying how time flows and the beauty of nature in different seasons. Besides, she paraphrased the abstruse poems in a plain and simple way, and helped to read the lines.
Poetry of Four Seasons
ISBN: 9787533951665
Just like walking in the garden of poetry, details of every poem are worth appreciating and cherishing. Through the interpretation of Meng Man, readers could obtain new discovery of these familiar Tang poetry and generate love and responsibility towards nature.
