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Chéng NánSouth of the City 城南

Zeng Gong (曾巩, also known as Tseng Kung)｜Northern Song｜seven-character quatrain

Zeng Gong on the south of the city after rain: peach and plum gone, only grass.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

雨过横塘水满堤
yǔ guò héng táng shuǐ mǎn dī

乱山高下路东西
luàn shān gāo xià lù dōng xī

一番桃李花开尽
yī fān táo lǐ huā kāi jǐn

惟有青青草色齐
wéi yǒu qīng qīng cǎo sè qí

Simplified characters; traditional title: 城南.

After the rain the Hengtang pond is full to the banks;

jumbled hills high and low, roads running east and west.

The peach and plum blossoms have all bloomed and gone;

only the green, green grass grows level and even.

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

雨过横塘水满堤 · yǔ guò héng táng shuǐ mǎn dī — After the rain the Hengtang pond is full to the banks;

乱山高下路东西 · luàn shān gāo xià lù dōng xī — jumbled hills high and low, roads running east and west.

一番桃李花开尽 · yī fān táo lǐ huā kāi jǐn — The peach and plum blossoms have all bloomed and gone;

惟有青青草色齐 · wéi yǒu qīng qīng cǎo sè qí — only the green, green grass grows level and even.

Zeng Gong on the south of the city after rain: peach and plum gone, only grass. The scene stays with you.

Zeng Gong on the south of the city after rain: peach and plum gone, only grass.

Zeng Gong, one of the Eight Great Prose Masters, also wrote elegant verse.

Lifetime: 1019–1083. Other famous works: South of the City (城南).