From My Studio at Gukou, to Reminder Yang
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
云霞生薜帷。
竹怜新雨后，
山爱夕阳时。
闲鹭栖常早，
秋花落更迟。
家僮扫萝径，
昨与故人期。
English translation
Springs and ravines girdle my thatched roof, clouds and rosy light rise from the creeper curtains.
The bamboo is loveliest after fresh rain, the hills are dearest at the hour of the setting sun.
The idle egrets roost always early, the autumn flowers fall the more slowly.
My servant boy sweeps the vine-hung path, yesterday I promised an old friend.
Meaning
Hill springs and ravines wind around this thatched study, and clouds and rosy light on the wall make the creeping fig look like a five-colored curtain.
How lovely the new bamboo after rain, and lovelier still the evening hills lit by the last sunshine.
The leisurely egrets often come home to roost early, and the autumn flowers, full of life, fall later here than elsewhere.
My servant is busily sweeping the vine-covered path clean, for yesterday I made an appointment to meet an old friend.
Background
Read the background
The exact date of this poem is unknown. It is a poem inviting a friend to come and visit, written when the author was living in his study at Lantian, studying hard, before he had passed the jinshi examination.