River Scenes on a Spring Evening Written to Accompany Two Pictures Drawn by Monk Huichong
惠崇春江晚景二首
Behind bamboo two or three sprays of peach-tree grow,
When spring has warmed the stream, ducks are the first to know.
The land o’verrun by weeds and water studd’d with reeds,
It is time when globefish to swim upstream preceeds.
竹外桃花三两枝， 春江水暖鸭先知。
蒌蒿满地芦芽短, 正是河豚欲上时。
Returning wild geese from the flock would break away,
North-going wayfarers are reluctant to go.
Knowing from afar the desert’s still covered with snow，
For half a month more in the South they would fain stay.
两两归鸿欲破群， 依依还似北归人。
遥知朔漠多风雪， 更待江南半月春。