ChineseStudy

214. Miscellaneous Poem | Wang Wei

Contents

Text

English translation

You have come from my old home, so you must know what has been happening there.

The speaker does not begin with family news or any major event, but simply asks about matters at home. The wording is ordinary; the urgency lies beneath it.

On the day you left for here, had the winter plum beside the patterned window begun to bloom?

Here the day you came means the day the traveler set out, not some future date; to put forth flowers means to bloom. All the desired news of home narrows to one plum tree by a familiar window.

赏析 · Commentary

为什么只问一株梅 · Why Ask About a Single Plum Tree

故乡可以问的事情很多，诗人偏偏问窗前寒梅。原因不必另找典故：这株梅就在旧居眼前，是离家生活中一个固定而私人的细节。问它开没开，比泛泛地说想家更具体。来人也不需要长篇回答，只要说一声花开未开，故乡的季节、院落和旧日生活便都跟着回来。

There are countless things one might ask about home, yet the poet chooses the plum by the window. No hidden allusion is needed: it is a fixed, private detail of the house he left behind. Asking whether it has bloomed is more exact than declaring homesickness. The visitor need answer only yes or no, and the season, courtyard, and former life return with that one reply.

问题从大处收到小处 · A Large Question Narrows to a Small One

前两句的“故乡事”范围很大，后两句忽然收窄到绮窗和寒梅。这样的收束让诗显得像真实谈话：见到故乡来人，先有许多话想问，开口时却只抓住最熟悉的一件。诗没有交代梅花是否开放，停在问句上，也保留了等待回答的那一刻。

Matters at home could include almost anything, but the second couplet suddenly narrows the field to a patterned window and a winter plum. The movement resembles actual conversation: meeting someone from home brings a rush of questions, yet speech fixes on one familiar thing. The poem never tells us whether the plum has bloomed. It stops at the question and preserves the instant before the answer.

Feedback