春晓
Spring Dawn
Original
春眠不觉晓，
处处闻啼鸟。
夜来风雨声，
花落知多少。
Translation
Spring slumber till dawn, I never knew;
From everywhere birds’ cries greet my view;
Last night, the sound of wind and rain I heard;
How many blossoms have fallen, unobserved?
Line by Line Analysis
About This Poem
"Spring Dawn" is a concise yet deeply evocative lyric that encapsulates the soft, unassuming magic of a rural spring morning in ancient China. Composed during Meng Haoran’s years of self-imposed seclusion in a countryside cottage, the poem unfolds through the perspective of a sleeper roused by the lively chirping of birds. The opening lines convey the drowsy, unhurried bliss of sleeping through the early spring dawn, while the shift to the memory of wind and rain introduces a quiet meditation on the transience of beauty. Meng does not lament the fallen blossoms; instead, he invites readers to savor the fleeting, understated charm of nature’s cycles. Its effortless simplicity belies profound depth, exploring themes of presence, impermanence, and the quiet joy found in unplanned, intimate encounters with the natural world.
About the Poet
孟浩然
Mèng Hàorán
Meng Haoran (689–740), a prominent poet of the High Tang Dynasty, is celebrated as a core representative of the landscape pastoral poetry school, alongside Wang Wei. Rejecting official bureaucratic positions, he dedicated himself to depicting rural tranquility, idyllic landscapes, and intimate moments with nature. His works, marked by plain, vivid language and subtle emotional undertones, capture the harmonious bond between humans and the natural world, exerting a lasting influence on subsequent Chinese pastoral poetry.
Cultural & Historical Context
1. Historical Background: "Spring Dawn" emerged during the High Tang Dynasty (7th–8th centuries CE), a golden age of Chinese poetry marked by literary innovation and prosperity. This period witnessed the rise of landscape pastoral poetry as poets sought spiritual refuge from the complexities of imperial politics and official intrigue. 2. Cultural Background: In Chinese culture, spring is a revered symbol of renewal, vitality, and fresh beginnings, while dawn represents hope and the start of a new cycle. The poem taps into these deep-seated cultural archetypes, resonating with audiences’ innate appreciation for nature’s gentle transformations. 3. Social Background: Tang society offered literati two contrasting paths: pursuing an official career to serve the empire or embracing eremitic seclusion to preserve personal integrity. Meng Haoran chose the latter, a choice that reflected a growing trend among poets who valued personal freedom over bureaucratic power. 4. Personal Experience: When composing this poem, Meng was living in seclusion after failing to secure a government post, immersing himself in rural life where he found inspiration in the quiet, uncelebrated moments of the natural world. 5. Artistic Purpose & Features: Meng aimed to capture the unscripted beauty of nature’s everyday moments, using plain, vivid sensory language (birdsong, wind and rain) instead of ornate rhetoric. The open-ended final line invites readers to meditate on impermanence, lending the poem a timeless, universal wisdom that has made it one of the most beloved Tang poems worldwide.