Travel in the Mountains

Introducion:

The poem paints a beautiful picture of the resplendent autumn woods with the flaming red maple trees in the center, tinged with the poet's excitement.   

 

Text:

Shān Xíng

山      行

杜牧(唐)

 

Yuǎn shàng hán shān shí jìng xiá，bái yún shēn chù yǒu rén jiā。

远        上     寒    山  石  径   斜， 白   云   深   处    有 人  家。

Tíng chē zuò ài fēng lín wǎn ，shuāng yè hóng yú èr yuè huā。

停     车   坐 爱  枫  林  晚 ，   霜       叶  红   于  二 月  花 。

 

Travel in the Mountains

Du Mu (Tang)

 

Afar a winding path of stone goes up the cold hill,

To the houses where the white clouds hover still.

I stop my coach to behold the maple trees with joy,

Where frosted leaves gleam more red than blooms of February.

 

Comment:

The poem paints a beautiful picture of the resplendent autumn woods with the flaming red maple trees in the center, tinged with the poet's excitement. What greets the eye of the reader first is the stone path ascending the cold mountain, whose top is enveloped in white clouds. The path is marked with human footprints, accordingly the floating clouds do not suggest illusiveness or bleakness but vitality latent in the mountains. The line "To the houses where the white clouds hover still" naturally comes to the poet's mind and heralds the next two lines in its wake. Here the poet clearly tells us: it is very late; yet I like to stop here at the foot of the mountain to enjoy the maple trees covering the mountainsides. They are flamboyant and even more magnificent than spring flowers. In contrast with the distant white clouds and the hidden houses, the maple woods boast of greater charm and vitality, filling the traveler with joy and strengthening his mind.