Sring is around. We will learn a Tang poem tang poem “春晓”(spring dawn) written by poet 孟浩然 (Meng, Haoran).
春晓 is a very famous poem. In this poem, the poet described vividly of a typical spring scene.
At the end of this poem, the poet expressed his sentimental feeling toward those falling flowers during the night storm.
At the beginning of this poem, the poet wrote: 春眠不觉晓 (chun1 mian2 bu4 jue2 xiao3), it means: I had a sound sleep and I even didn’t realize it was dawn already.
Then the poet found: 处处闻啼鸟 (chu4 chu4 wen2 ti2 niao3), it means: everywhere was birds’ singing.
Later he remembered: 夜来风雨声 (ye4 lai2 feng1 yu3 sheng1), it means: last night was windy and rainy.
Because of the thunderstorm, he wondered: 花落知多少 (hua1 luo4 zhi1 duo1 shao3) which means how many flowers fell off.
When you read this poem, you seem like watching a vivid movie, you feel the scene of spring and share the poet’s feeling. That is the beauty of this poem.
Now let’s read this poem together.
By the way, in Chinese culture, having kids appreciate and memorize Tang poems is a tradition.
I remember, when I was a kid, in the morning I picked up a book titled as 300 Tang Poems and read aloud of the poems. I was required to memorize one new poem every several days.
When it was time for breakfast, my dad would test me. My dad told me, he had to memorize those poems too when he was little. Now I wish my kids will know some of these poems too.
In the ancient China, a well educated person was supposed to know how to write a poem, which might sound too demanding for most of us, however, spending some time to appreciate a beautiful poem is really necessary. It is not only for learning the language and culture but also for having fun.
There is a Chinese saying: 熟读唐诗三百首(shu2 du2 tang1 shi3 san1 bai2 shou3)，不会作诗也会吟(bu2 hui4 zuo4 shi1 ye3 hui4 yin2)。
It means, after reading up three hundred Tang poems, even you don’t know how to write a poem, at least you know how to intone a poem.
I hope you enjoy this poem as much as I do.