Home › Poems › Easing the Heart by the Water Rail
Shuǐ Kǎn Qiǎn XīnEasing the Heart by the Water Rail 水槛遣心
Du Fu by the river: fish surface in drizzle, swallows slant in the breeze.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
澄江平少岸
chéng jiāng píng shǎo àn
幽树晚多花
yōu shù wǎn duō huā
细雨鱼儿出
xì yǔ yú ér chū
微风燕子斜
wēi fēng yàn zi xié
Simplified characters; traditional title: 水檻遣心. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.
Note on the text: This page presents a well-known excerpt; the full poem is longer in the traditional corpus.
English translation
The clear river, level, its banks hardly showing;
the quiet trees, late in the day, full of flowers.
In the fine rain, little fish come up;
in the light breeze, swallows slant.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Du Fu by the river: fish surface in drizzle, swallows slant in the breeze. The scene stays with you.
Background
Du Fu by the river: fish surface in drizzle, swallows slant in the breeze.
Key words
- 澄江 chéng jiāng
- a clear, still river
- 平少 píng shǎo
- Pingshao — a name or place in context
- 幽树 yōu shù
- secluded trees; deep grove
About the poet: Du Fu
Du Fu (also romanized Tu Fu) lived through the An Lushan Rebellion, which tore apart the Tang empire and his own family life. His precise, compassionate poems record war, poverty and loyalty, earning him the titles "Sage of Poetry" and "poet-historian."
Lifetime: 712–770. Other famous works: Happy Rain on a Spring Night (春夜喜雨); The Prime Minister of Shu (蜀相); The Officer at Shihao Village (石壕吏); Thoughts While Traveling at Night (旅夜书怀); Qujiang (曲江); Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan (江南逢李龟年); Ballad of the Army Carts (兵车行); Moonlit Night (月夜); Spring View (春望); Climbing High (登高); Quatrain: Two Orioles (绝句·两个黄鹂鸣翠柳); On Yueyang Tower (登岳阳楼); My Thatched Hut Torn by the Autumn Wind (茅屋为秋风所破歌); Gazing at Mount Tai (望岳); A Guest Arrives (客至); Strolling by the River V (江畔独步寻花 其五); Strolling Alone by the River in Search of Flowers (江畔独步寻花); River Village (江村); Winter Solstice Eve (小至); Thinking of Li Bai on a Spring Day (春日忆李白); Easing the Heart by the Water Rail (水槛遣心); Quatrain (绝句); Casual Quatrain (绝句漫兴); For General Hua (赠花卿).
More by Du Fu
- Spring View春望
- Quatrain (The River Blue)绝句
- Climbing High登高
- On Yueyang Tower登岳阳楼
- Moonlit Night月夜
- Happy Rain on a Spring Night春夜喜雨
- Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan江南逢李龟年
- Qujiang曲江