POEM
春晓Chūn XiǎoA Spring Morning
- Dynasty
- Tang
- Author
- 孟浩然 Mèng Hàorán (Meng Haoran)
- Genre
- 五言绝句
- Lines
- 4
- Era
- c. 8th century
THE POEM — LINE BY LINE
Tap a line for word-by-word gloss.
#1春眠不觉晓Chūn mián bù jué xiǎoIn spring I sleep so deeply that I miss the dawn.word by word
#4花落知多少Huā luò zhī duō shǎoWho knows how many blossoms have fallen?word by word
POEM IN PLAIN ENGLISH
A plain-English guide, not a literary translationIn spring the poet sleeps so soundly that dawn arrives without his noticing. When he wakes, birds are singing everywhere. Through the night he had heard wind and rain, and now he wonders how many blossoms the storm has knocked down. Four tiny lines hold the drowsy sweetness of a spring morning and a gentle regret for flowers already gone. This is a plain-English guide, not a literary translation.
BACKGROUND & IMAGERY
Meng Haoran (689-740) is the Tang poet most associated with quiet countryside life, and 春晓 is among the first poems Chinese children learn. The poem moves in reverse: first the sleeper who misses dawn, then the birdsong, then — remembered from the night — wind and rain, which turn the final line's falling blossoms into a small loss. That tender regret for spring (惜春) is a recurring mood in classical Chinese poetry.
TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
Sources
- 《唐诗三百首》通行本（中华书局点校本）
- 本站飞花令语料 feihualing.db（poem 329501） — 文本以通行本为准，库本仅行级参考（库本与通行本一致）
- Original English paraphrase & gloss — 本站原创学习释义，非文学译本（plain-English guide, not a literary translation）
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