Chūn XiǎoSpring Dawn 春晓
Meng Haoran wakes late on a spring morning to birdsong.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
春眠不觉晓
chūn mián bù jué xiǎo
处处闻啼鸟
chù chù wén tí niǎo
夜来风雨声
yè lái fēng yǔ shēng
花落知多少
huā luò zhī duō shǎo
Simplified characters; traditional title: 春曉.
English translation
This spring morning in bed I'm lying,
Not to awake till birds are crying.
After one night of wind and showers,
How many are the fallen flowers!
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
The poem moves through the senses rather than sight: the poet is still in bed, so the world reaches him as sound — first birdsong, then the remembered wind and rain. The cheerful opening slides into a gentle question about fallen flowers, the classic Chinese image of spring passing. Joy and regret arrive together, and the poem ends without answering, leaving the reader to picture the petals outside.
Background
Composed while Meng Haoran was living in retirement at Lumen Mountain near Xiangyang, free of official duties — which is why he can sleep past dawn.
Key words
- 不觉晓 bù jué xiǎo
- not noticing the dawn
- 啼鸟 tí niǎo
- calling, singing birds
- 夜来 yè lái
- during the night
- 知多少 zhī duō shǎo
- "who knows how many?" — a question, not a count
About the poet: Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran spent most of his life as a recluse near his home of Xiangyang, never holding high office. A friend of Li Bai and Wang Wei, he is a leading voice of the Tang "landscape and pastoral" school, admired for plain words and quiet feeling.
Lifetime: 689–740. Other famous works: Spring Dawn (春晓); Visiting an Old Friend's Farm (过故人庄); Mooring on the Jiande River (宿建德江); Looking at Dongting Lake (望洞庭湖赠张丞相).