Home › Poems › At Xu's Inn in Xinshi
Sù Xīn Shì Xú Gōng DiànAt Xu's Inn in Xinshi 宿新市徐公店
Yang Wanli on children chasing a yellow butterfly into rapeseed flowers.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
篱落疎疎一径深
lí luò shū shū yī jìng shēn
树头新绿未成阴
shù tóu xīn lǜ wèi chéng yīn
儿童急走追黄蝶
ér tóng jí zǒu zhuī huáng dié
飞入菜花无处寻
fēi rù cài huā wú chǔ xún
Simplified characters; traditional title: 宿新市徐公店.
English translation
A sparse hedge, a single path running deep;
the new green on the trees hasn't yet made shade.
The children run and chase a yellow butterfly —
it flies into the rapeseed flowers and can't be found.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Yang Wanli on children chasing a yellow butterfly into rapeseed flowers. The scene stays with you.
Background
Yang Wanli on children chasing a yellow butterfly into rapeseed flowers.
Key words
- 篱落 lí luò
- along the fence; hedge and fence
- 疎疎 shū shū
- sparse; thinly scattered
- 一径 yī jìng
- a single path; one trail
About the poet: Yang Wanli
Yang Wanli developed a fresh, witty style that captured small moments of nature as if seen for the first time. He wrote over four thousand surviving poems.
Lifetime: 1127–1206. Other famous works: The Little Pond (小池); A Child Playing with Ice (稚子弄氷); Leaving Jingci Temple at Dawn (晓出净慈寺送林子方); Waking from an Early-Summer Nap (闲居初夏午睡起); Seeking Cool on a Summer Night (夏夜追凉); Boating Past Anren (舟过安仁); At Xu's Inn in Xinshi (宿新市徐公店).
More by Yang Wanli
- The Little Pond小池
- A Child Playing with Ice稚子弄氷
- Leaving Jingci Temple at Dawn晓出净慈寺送林子方
- Waking from an Early-Summer Nap闲居初夏午睡起
- Seeking Cool on a Summer Night夏夜追凉
- Boating Past Anren舟过安仁