Su Dongpo: Watching the Tidal Bore

 

[updated September 2022]

 

Watching the Tidal Bore: (Auspicious Partridge)

 

观 潮: 瑞 鹧 鸪
碧 山 影 里 小 红 旗
侬 时 江 南 踏 浪 儿。
拍 手 欲 嘲 山 简 醉
齐 声 争 唱 浪 婆 词。
西 兴 渡 口 帆 初 落
渔 浦 山 头 日 未 欹。
侬 欲 送 潮 歌 底 曲?
尊 前 还 唱 使 君 诗。
Guan Chao: (Rui Zhe Gu)

Bi shan ying li xiao hong qi
Nong shi jiang nan ta lang er.
Pai shou yu chao shan jian zui
Qi sheng zheng chang lang po ci.

Xi xing du kou fan chu luo
Yu pu shan tou ri wei qi.
Nong yu song hu ge di qu?
Zun qian huan chang shi jun shi.

 

Watching the Tidal Bore: (Auspicious Partridge)

Jade-green mountain reflections, small red banners on the riverboats
These Jiangnan fishermen move up and down the waves anticipating a big catch.
Like a mayor in former times, who went out into the river drunk
On his return, children clapped their hands
The poets and I now chant in unison, and watch the waves from afar.

In the west, the sailboats unload at the ferry crossing
Atop Yupu Mountain, the sun has yet to go down.
I need to make a lake song, but which one?
We will sing this mayoral supervisor’s poems and songs.

 

Notes:

(Auspicious Partridge): The name of the poem’s melody.

Jiangnan: South of the river: The region south of the mouth of the Changjiang in Zhejiang Province.