Li Bai (701-762) was one of the greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty.

 

宣城见杜鹃花

蜀国[1]曾闻子规鸟[2],

宣城还见杜鹃花[3]。

一叫一回肠一断,

三春三月忆三巴[4]。

写这首诗的时候,李白已是迟暮之年。流放途中遇赦的他,流落江南,晚景凄凉。看见杜鹃花开,想起蜀中这时节,杜鹃也开始啼叫了,可是这杜鹃啼血是最听不得的呀,诗人的思乡情肠被触动了,况且当年他仗剑去国,辞亲远游,正待施展雄才大略,何等潇洒,如今功业未成,岁月蹉跎,缠绵病榻,不知能否再见故乡,满心的悲戚和浓浓的乡愁不觉涌上心头。

注释:

[1]蜀国:指四川。

[2]子规鸟:又名杜鹃,因鸣声凄厉,动人乡思,故俗称断肠鸟,传说是古蜀王杜宇死后幻化而成。

[3]杜鹃花:即映山红,因每年春末盛开,恰逢杜鹃鸟啼之时,故名杜鹃花。

[4]三巴:巴郡、巴东、巴西三郡,即指蜀国,今四川。

Azalea Blooms Viewed in Xuancheng

I’ve heard home-going cuckoos sing in Western Towers[1],

And here and now I see the blooming cuckoo flowers[2],

I turn away:my heart will break to hear them sing,

For they remind me of my homeland in late spring.

注释:

[1]In present-day Sichuan Province,homeland of the poet.

[2]Chinese name for azalea flowers which bloom when cuckoos cry“Go home!”and accord ing to Chinese legend,shed bloody tears.