chūn sī (by Li Bai)
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| 春 | chūn | spring (time); gay; joyful; youthful; love; lust; life |
| 思 | sī | to think; to consider |
| 燕 | yān, yàn | (surname); place name; swallow (a type of bird) |
| 草 | cǎo | grass; straw; draft (of a document); careless; rough; manuscript; hasty |
| 如 | rú | as (if); such as |
| 碧 | bì | green jade; bluish green; blue; jade |
| 絲 or 丝 | sī | silk; thread; trace |
| 秦 | qín | (surname); name of a dynasty |
| 桑 | sāng | mulberry tree |
| 低 | dī | to lower (one's head); to let droop; to hang down; low; to incline; beneath; low |
| 綠 or 绿 | lǜ | green; chlorine |
| 枝 | zhī | branch; (a measure word) |
| 當 or 当 | dāng, dàng | at or in the very same...; to pawn; suitable; adequate; fitting; proper; replace; represent; to be; to act as; manage; withstand; when; during; ought; should; match equally; equal; same; obstruct; just at (a time or place); on the spot; right; just at |
| 君 | jūn | monarch; lord; gentleman; ruler |
| 懷 or 怀 | huái | to think of; to cherish; mind; heart; bosom |
| 歸 or 归 | guī | to go back; to return |
| 日 | rì | Japan; day; sun; date; day of the month |
| 是 | shì | is; are; am; yes; to be |
| 妾 | qiè | concubine |
| 斷 or 断 | duàn | absolutely; decidedly (in negative constructions); break; to judge |
| 腸 or 肠 | cháng | intestines |
| 時 or 时 | shí | O'clock; time; when; hour; season; period |
| 春 | chūn | spring (time); gay; joyful; youthful; love; lust; life |
| 風 or 风 | fēng | wind; news; style; custom; manner |
| 不 | bù | (negative prefix); not; no |
| 相 | xiāng, xiàng | each other; one another; mutually; appearance; portrait; picture |
| 識 or 识 | shí, zhì | to know; knowledge; to record; write a footnote |
| 何 | hé | carry; what; how; why; which |
| 事 | shì | matter; thing; item; work; affair |
| 入 | rù | to enter |
| 羅 or 罗 | luó | (surname); gauze; to collect; to gather; to catch; to shift |
| 幃 or 帏 | wéi | curtain; women's apartment; tent |
Spring thoughts
The swallow darts like green silk
under a mulberry's drooping green branchesAs a gentleman yearns for the day he returns
and can be with his mistressThe spring breezes, oblivious to their
desires, disturb the gauze curtainsDJW
Swallows tend to make poor court historians; they try to record everything with blue thread.
For example, the know the Qin family all fied like a mulberry bush in chlorine.
"We sent the king's head to Japan, and the concubine broke his guts"—
This is not the correct style for historic footnotes.
Collecting such information is like carrying curtains!
MAW
Spring memory
Spring brings a memory
like a rough green trace on a page
that recalls a green mulberry branch
hanging lowSo that the man returns to cherish that day,
and his beloved,
when he was happyThough he did not know to take off her clothes,
how to shift the curtain to enter her tent.CMW
About love
Like a hasty swallow, like blue silk
On a low green branch of the mulberry tree
Acting as a lord thinking of going back to Japan
To be with his concubine for the season
A picture of joy—no idea of work—
As you shift the curtain to enter her tent
IW