Suǒ JiànWhat I Saw 所见
Yuan Mei on a herd boy who goes silent to catch a cicada. A summer poem.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
牧童骑黄牛
mù tóng qí huáng niú
歌声振林樾
gē shēng zhèn lín yuè
意欲捕鸣蝉
yì yù bǔ míng chán
忽然闭口立
hū rán bì kǒu lì
Simplified characters; traditional title: 所見.
English translation
A cowherd boy rides a yellow ox,
his song shaking the woods.
Wanting to catch a singing cicada,
he suddenly shuts his mouth and stands still.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
牧童骑黄牛 · mù tóng qí huáng niú — A cowherd boy rides a yellow ox,
歌声振林樾 · gē shēng zhèn lín yuè — his song shaking the woods.
意欲捕鸣蝉 · yì yù bǔ míng chán — Wanting to catch a singing cicada,
忽然闭口立 · hū rán bì kǒu lì — he suddenly shuts his mouth and stands still.
Meaning and imagery
Yuan Mei on a herd boy who goes silent to catch a cicada. A summer poem. The scene stays with you.
Background
Yuan Mei on a herd boy who goes silent to catch a cicada. A summer poem.
Key words
- 林樾 lín yuè
- shade of the woods
- 牧童 mù tóng
- a herd-boy; cowherd
- 骑黄 qí huáng
- riding a yellow (crane / horse)
About the poet: Yuan Mei
Yuan Mei championed native sensibility in Qing poetry.
Lifetime: 1716–1797. Other famous works: Moss (苔); What I Saw (所见).