Home › Poems › Early Spring: For Zhang the Eighteenth of the Ministry of Water
Zǎo Chūn Chéng Shuǐ Bù Zhāng Shí Bā Yuán WàiEarly Spring: For Zhang the Eighteenth of the Ministry of Water 早春呈水部张十八员外
Han Yu's grass that you can see only from far away.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
天街小雨润如酥
tiān jiē xiǎo yǔ rùn rú sū
草色遥看近却无
cǎo sè yáo kàn jìn què wú
最是一年春好处
zuì shì yī nián chūn hǎo chù
绝胜烟柳满皇都
jué shèng yān liǔ mǎn huáng dōu
Simplified characters; traditional title: 早春呈水部張十八員外.
English translation
The capital's streets soft with rain as fine as cream;
Grass color seen afar—up close, no green is seen.
This is the fairest hour of all the year's spring,
Far better than misty willows filling the imperial scene.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
The second line is a celebrated piece of observation. The first green of early spring is visible from a distance, but when you look down at your feet, it vanishes. Han Yu argues that this faint, hesitant beginning is better than the full spring of willows everywhere. The poem invites his friend to come out and enjoy it before it is too late.
Background
The first of two poems written in 823 for Zhang Ji (张籍, a different person from the poet of "Maple Bridge"), who held a post in the Ministry of Works.
Key words
- 天街 tiān jiē
- the streets of the capital
- 酥 sū
- butter, cream
- 皇都 huáng dū
- the imperial capital
About the poet: Han Yu
Han Yu was a leading prose writer and Confucian thinker who championed the "ancient prose" movement. His poetry can be bold and unusual, but also delicate, as in his early-spring quatrain.
Lifetime: 768–824. Other famous works: Early Spring: For Zhang the Eighteenth of the Ministry of Water (早春呈水部张十八员外); On Teachers (师说).