春曉(chūn xiǎo)

Dawn in spring

孟浩然【唐】(mèng hào rán, táng)

By Meng Haoran, Tang Dynasty (AD 618907)

春眠不覺曉，

(chūn mián bù jiào xiǎo,)

Soundly sleeping in the spring, I didn’t realize the dawn.

處處聞啼鳥。

(chù chù wén tí niǎo.)

Till the birds broke out in song everywhere.

夜來風(fēng)雨聲，

(yè lái fēng yǔ shēng,)

Last night, in the clamor of wind and rain.

花落知多少。

(huā luò zhī duō shǎo.)

How many flowers have fallen, would you suppose?

Notes:

曉(xiǎo): dawn.

聞(wén): to hear.

啼鳥(tí niǎo): twittering or singing birds.

夜來(yè lái): last night.

知(zhī): to know (here it means to have no idea of).

Summary:

Here the poet describes two sounds of spring: the birds twittering in the morning and the clamor in the night according to what he heard and remembered. The poet is overwhelmed by complex and subtle feelings. As soon as the poet wakes up, he hears a morning chorus sung by hundreds of birds, which fills him with joy in nature. But recalling the night‘s clamor, he recognizes that many flowers had fallen to the ground. His heart is overwhelmed with melancholy. It‘s true that no one’s life is perfect. Life is filled with happiness and sorrow.

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