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Archive for the 'Poems about Spring' Category
Contents
Posts
Early Spring a Poem by Fay Inchfawn with an MP3 Recording
Friday, April 3rd, 2009Here’s a lovely poem called Early Spring by Fay Inchfawn. Inchfawn’s real name was Elizabeth Rebecca Ward (1880 – 1978). She was born in England.
Early Spring
Quick through the gates of Fairyland
The South Wind forced his way.
‘Twas his to make the Earth forget
Her grief of yesterday.
“‘Tis mine,” cried he, “to bring her joy!”
And on his lightsome feet
In haste he slung the snowdrop bells,
Pushed past the Fairy sentinels,
And out with laughter sweet.Clear flames of Crocus glimmered on
The shining way he went.
He whispered to the trees strange tales
Of wondrous sweet intent,
When, suddenly, his witching voice
With timbre rich and rare,
Rang through the woodlands till it cleft
Earth’s silent solitudes, and left
A Dream of Roses there!You can read a whole book of Elizabeth Ward’s poetry called The Verse-Book Of A Homely Woman online at Project Gutenberg.
Qingming Poem by Du Mu with an MP3 Recording
Friday, April 3rd, 2009Yesterday, I posted the poem Qingming by the poet Du Mu (803 – 852) that mentions the Qingming Festival (also called Ching Ming). I asked my friend Ray Lee about it. He grew up in Hong Kong and I wanted to hear his impression about the poem and also my translation of it (below). Here’s what Ray wrote:
This is indeed a very well known poem. We were taught this poem when we were in school. I don’t know if they still teach this in school. Even if they don’t, the school kids are bound to hear it from their parents or on TV or read about it somewhere.
The translation you have is pretty good. I am not sure about the second line though. I have always thought it said, “pedestrians on the road are like ghosts,” because of the rain.
Below you can find the Chinese text, the Pinyin and an English translation I had done of the poem Qingming plus an mp3 of Qingming being recited…
Ching Ming
It’s raining hard at the time of the Ching Ming Festival,
The mourner’s heart is overwhelmed on the road upland.
May I ask where there’s a tavern to drown my sorrows?
The shepherd boy points to Xinghua Village in the distance.清 明
清 明 时 节 雨 纷 纷，
路 上 行 人 欲 断 魂。
借 问 酒 家 何 处 有，
牧 童 遥 指 杏 花 村。
qīng míng shí jié yǔ fēn fēn
lù shàng xíng rén yù duàn hún
jiè wèn jiǔ jiā hé chù yǒu
mù tóng yáo zhǐ xìng huā cūnRay later wrote to me about the second line:
There is another translation on the Internet that is somewhere between my translation and yours. This one says something like travelers all look gloomy and miserable.
Thanks, Ray, for letting us know more about this poem!
The poem was read by Jia Zhou for Librevox.
If anyone would like to comment about the translation, please feel free to let us know what you think in the comments below or to email me at lisa@mamalisa.com .
Below you can read posts about the Chingming Festival…
-Mama Lisa
April Poem
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009Here’s an old poem about April by William Watson (1858 – 1936), an English poet…
Song
APRIL, April,
Laugh thy girlish laughter;
Then, the moment after,
Weep thy girlish tears!
April, that mine ears
Like a lover greetest,
If I tell thee, sweetest,
All my hopes and fears,
April, April,
Laugh thy golden laughter,
But, the moment after,
Weep thy golden tears!
“Delighting in Rain on a Spring Night” – A Poem by the Chinese Poet Du Fu
Monday, March 26th, 2007Du Fu, also known as Tu Fu (712-770), is one of the best-known poets of China. Many of his poems are about nature and the seasons.
Here’s Delighting in Rain on a Spring Night in simplified Chinese and with an English translation by Brendan O’Kane. After the translation, I posted the traditional Chinese text.
春夜喜雨
Delighting in Rain on a Spring Night杜甫
Dù Fǔ好雨知时节，
A good rain knows its proper time;
当春乃发生。
It waits until the Spring to fall.
随风潜入夜，
It drifts in on the wind, steals in by night,
润物细无声。
Its fine drops drench, yet make no sound at all.
野径云俱黑，
The paths between the fields are cloaked with clouds;
江船火独明。
A river-skiff’s lone light still burns.
晓看红湿处，
Come dawn, we’ll see splashes of wet red –
花重锦官城
The flowers in Chengdu*, weighed down with rain.*Chengdu is now a large city in southern China. Du Fu lived in Chengdu for 4 years and composed over 200 poems there.
Here is the poem in traditional Chinese text:
春夜喜雨
好雨知時節,
當春乃發生。
隨風潛入夜,
潤物細無聲。
野徑雲俱黑,
將船火獨明。
曉看紅濕處,
花重錦官城。Many thanks to Brendan O’Kane for letting me post his translation of this poem. Brendan is a translator living in Beijing. He also has a blog called Bokane.org. Check it out for translations of some other Chinese poems and general posts about Chinese culture and life in Beijing.
Don’t Take Your New Parasol Out in the Windy Month of March!
Thursday, March 22nd, 2007Here’s a poem from an anonymous author of an old book called The Infant’s Delight: Poetry. It’s about a little girl who goes out on a windy day in March with her beautiful new parasol, even though her mother tells her not to. Uh-oh! (A parasol is a fancy umbrella, carried to block the sun.)
NAUGH-TY NEL-LY AND HER NEW PA-RA-SOL.
“No, Nel-ly! not to-day, my child!
I can-not let you take it;
This cold March wind, so strong and wild,
Your pa-ra-sol, ‘twould break it!”So said Mam-ma; but Nel-ly thought,
“I will take my new pre-sent:
Tis mine; to please me it was bought;
The wea-ther’s bright and plea-sant.”So naugh-ty Nel-ly sly-ly took
What kind Mam-ma had bought her,
And out she went-and, only look!
The wild March wind has caught her!The silk tore up, the ribs broke out,
In spite of Nel-ly’s sway-ing;
And peo-ple laugh-ed at her, no doubt-
That comes of dis-o-bey-ing.You can find more poems like this one online from The Infant’s Delight: Poetry at Project Gutenberg.
Spring Is Here! Go Away Winter, You Brute!
Wednesday, March 21st, 2007Now that Spring is here – we can all smile – and start bad-mouthing Winter!
Here’s a poem about banishing Winter, called Winter, You’re Just a Brute! Well, that’s my translation of it. It’s originally French. The title in French is Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain ! It was written by Charles d’Orléans (1394-1465).
Below you’ll find my English translation first, followed by a modernized French version, followed by the original poem. At the end you’ll find a link where you can hear the poem recited in French.
Winter, You’re Just a Brute!
Winter, you’re just a brute!
Summer is pleasant and nice,
As proof, May and April,
Who accompany it evening and morn.Summer adorns fields, woods and flowers,
In its coat of greenery
And of many other colors,
By the order of Nature.But you, Winter, are too full
Of snow, wind, rain and hail;
You must be banished into exile,
Without flattering, I speak fairly,
Winter, you’re just a brute!Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain !
(A Modernized Version in French)Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain !
Eté est plaisant et gentil,
En témoin de Mai et d’Avril,
Qui l’accompagnent soir et matin.Eté revêt champs, bois et fleurs
De sa livrée de verdure,
Et de maintes autres couleurs,
Par l’ordonnance de Nature.Mais, vous, Hiver, trop êtes plein
De neige, vents, pluie et grésil.
On vous dût bannir en exil,
Sans point flatter, je parle plain,
Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain.Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain
(Original Version with Older French Spelling)Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain,
Esté est plaisant et gentil,
En tesmoing de May et d’Avril
Qui l’acompaignent soir et main.Esté revest champs, bois et fleurs,
De sa livrée de verdure
Et de maintes autres couleurs,
Par l’ordonnance de Nature.Mais vous, Yver, trop estes plain
De nege, vent pluye et grezil;
On vous deust banie en essil.
Sans point flater, je parle plain,
Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain !
Link to hear Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain ! RecitedLink to Hear Hiver, vous n’êtes qu’un vilain ! Sung
An April Song in English, based on a French Poem
Wednesday, April 5th, 2006David Solomons sent me this nice ditty he sang called APRIL. The English lyrics were written by S N Solomons, the music was composed and performed by David Solomons. The English version is based on a French poem by Remi Belleau (1528-1577).
MP3 of David Solomons singing April
APRIL
April, the grace and smile
That all beguile,
The tang and the sweet breath:
Perfume of Gods on high,
Who from the sky
Relish the scent of earth.April, courteous and gentil
Who from exile
Summons the wanderers,
The forked swifts that skim
Their way and seem
Of Spring the messengers.May-flower and eglantine,
And verdant thyme,
Lilies and roses red
At this so beauteous tide,
Growing in pride
With lovely raiment spread.English version of APRIL ©S N Solomons
Here’s Remi Belleau’s poem in French…
AVRIL
Avril, la grace, et le ris
De Cypris,
Le flair et la douce haleine:
Avril, le parfum des Dieux,
Qui des cieux
Sentent l`odeur de la plaine.C`est toy courtois et gentil,
Qui d`exil
Retires ces passageres,
Ces arondelles qui vont,
Et qui sont
Du printemps les messageres.L`aubespine et l`aiglantin,
Et le thym,
L`oeillet, le lis et les roses
En ceste belle saison,
A foison,
Monstrent leurs robes escloses.Come visit David’s page with this song and the musical score.
Check out the Online Video of David Singing APRIL!
Many thanks to David Solomons for sharing this song for us to enjoy!
David is a one man choral singer who has been playing instruments and singing for over 30 years. Here’s a link to David Solomons’ Home Page where you can hear more of his music!
A Daffodil Ditty
Thursday, March 30th, 2006Yesterday I saw the first daffodils of the season. It made me think of an old English rhyme, which goes…
Daffy-down-dilly is new come to town,
With a yellow petticoat and a green gown.An alternative version is…
Daffy-down-dilly is new come to town,
With a petticoat green, and a bright yellow gown,
And her white blossoms are peeping around.Seeing daffy-down-dilly used for daffodil, made me curious about the word. I looked it up in the Oxford English Dictionary and found all of these variants of daffodil…
Affodil
Daff
Daffy
Daffadilly
Daffodilly
Daffydowndilly
Daffadowndilly
Daffodowndilly
DaffadoondillyThen there’s also the word daffying, that dates back to 1871, which means to gather daffodils.
Whatever you’re doing this season, I hope you get to see some lovely daffy-down-dillies. It’s a wonderful sign that it’s springtime!
Lisa
“Spring Wish”, A Springtime Poem for Schoolkids
Monday, March 27th, 2006Spring Wish
By John FarrarA frog’s a very happy thing,
Cool and green in early spring,
Quick and silver through the pool,
With no thought of books or school.Oh, I want to be a frog,
Sunning, stretching on a log,
Blinking there in splendid ease,
Swimming naked when I please,
Nosing into magic nooks,
Quiet marshes, noisy brooks.Free! And fit for anything!
Oh, to be a frog in spring!
A Springtime Poem by Wordsworth
Friday, March 24th, 2006Here’s a poem written by the British poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850)…
Written in March
While resting on the Bridge at the foot of Brother’s WaterThe cock is crowing,
The stream is flowing,
The small birds twitter,
The lake doth glitter
The green field sleeps in the sun;
The oldest and youngest
Are at work with the strongest;
The cattle are grazing,
Their heads never raising;
There are forty feeding like one!Like an army defeated
The snow hath retreated,
And now doth fare ill
On the top of the bare hill;
The ploughboy is whooping-anon-anon:
There’s joy in the mountains;
There’s life in the fountains;
Small clouds are sailing,
Blue sky prevailing;
The rain is over and gone!
A French Poem called “Le Printemps” or “Springtime”
Sunday, March 19th, 2006I asked Monique of Mama Lisa’s World en français, if she could recommend any well-known French songs or poems about the Spring. She wrote:
Here is a poem we often teach the students, called Le Printemps by Théophile Gautier (1811 – 1872)…
Le Printemps
par Théophile GautierRegardez les branches
Comme elles sont blanches,
Il neige des fleurs.Riant de la pluie
Le soleil essuie
les saules en pleurs.Et le ciel reflète
Dans la violette
Ses pures couleurs…La mouche ouvre l’aile
Et la demoiselle
Aux prunelles d’or,
Au corset de guêpe
Dépliant son crêpe,
A repris l’essor.L’eau gaiement babille,
Le goujon frétille
Un printemps encore !Monique and I prepared this English translation for you…
Springtime
By Théophile GautierLook at the boughs,
How white they are,
It’s snowing flowers!Scoffing at the rain,
The sun dries
The weepy willow.And the sky reflects
In the violets
Its pure colors…The fly opens its wings
And the dragonfly
With the golden pupils,
And the wasp-like corset,
Unfolding its silky wings,
Has resumed its flight.The water happily babbles,
The tiny fish wriggles
It’s Springtime again!Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World France page for French children’s songs with their English translations and…
Mama Lisa’s World en français for children’s songs around the world with their French translations.
________
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