Chinese Poems 古诗词 The Fisherman on the River

The Fisherman on the River

Introducion:

The poem is a classic example of using striking contrasts in expressing the motif: customers are busily shopping around for fish while the fishermen risk their lives fishing on the rough sea.   

 

Text：

Jiāng Shàng Yú Zhě

江   上     鱼  者

范仲淹(宋)

 

Jiāng shàng wǎng lái rén，dàn   ài  lú  yú měi 。

 江        上        往   来  人  ，但  爱 鲈 鱼 美  。

Jūn kàn yí yè zhōu，chū méi fēng bō lǐ 。

君   看   一 叶舟 ， 出  没   风   波里。

 

The Fisherman on the River

Fan Zhongyan (Song)

 

The people busily come and go along the river,

They care for nothing more than the perch's sweet taste.

Oh, look! How yonder tiny skiffs do toss and shiver

In the wind and vanish amidst the billows waste!

 

Comment:

 

The poem is a classic example of using striking contrasts in expressing the motif: customers are busily shopping around for fish while the fishermen risk their lives fishing on the rough sea. The contrasts are shown first by their different acts: the fish shoppers are hurrying and looking about while the fishermen are wrestling hard with the choppy waves; then by their different motives: the former wish to have a good bite of the palatable perch while the latter have to make a living at the risk of their lives in the churning waves, which is implicitly expressed in the Poem, though. Moreover, the poem makes apt use of"?" (gentleman) to imply that the fish shoppers should realize the hardships and risks involved in catching the perch, thereby expressing his compassion for the fishermen.