Zèng Fàn YèFor Fan Ye 赠范晔
Lu Kai sends a friend a plum branch: "a sprig of spring".
Original Chinese text with pinyin
折花逢驿使
zhé huā féng yì shǐ
寄与陇头人
jì yǔ lǒng tóu rén
江南无所有
jiāng nán wú suǒ yǒu
聊赠一枝春
liáo zèng yī zhī chūn
Simplified characters; traditional title: 贈范曄.
English translation
Picking flowers, I met the courier
and sent them to you at Longtou.
In the south I have nothing much —
so I give you a branch of spring.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
折花逢驿使 · zhé huā féng yì shǐ — Picking flowers, I met the courier
寄与陇头人 · jì yǔ lǒng tóu rén — and sent them to you at Longtou.
江南无所有 · jiāng nán wú suǒ yǒu — In the south I have nothing much —
聊赠一枝春 · liáo zèng yī zhī chūn — so I give you a branch of spring.
Meaning and imagery
Lu Kai sends a friend a plum branch: "a sprig of spring". The scene stays with you.
Background
Lu Kai sends a friend a plum branch: "a sprig of spring".
Key words
- 陇头 lǒng tóu
- the head of the Long plateau — frontier
- 折花 zhé huā
- plucking a flower
- 逢驿 féng yì
- meeting at a post station
About the poet: Lu Kai
Lu Kai is remembered for sending plum blossom as a spring letter.
Lifetime: Southern Dynasties. Other famous works: For Fan Ye (赠范晔).