The Grass Poems
In classic Chinese poetry, grass has been used to symbolize various themes and ideas. Ancient Chinese poets have admired grass in their poems because of its resilience and tenacity -- its ability to thrive even under harsh conditions, such as in barren landscapes. Therefore, it can be used to symbolize common people or the grassroots. Grass also symbolizes hope and renewal, when it begins to grow again even after difficult times. The following two poems both use grass as a symbol of renewal -- it returns even after being destroyed by fire.
草 Grass
作者：白居易 （Author: Bai Juyi, 8th century)
离离原上草 lush, lush plain on grass
一岁一枯荣 one year one dry glory
野火烧不尽 wild fire burn not all
春风吹又生 spring wind blow again life
远芳侵古道 distant fragrance invade ancient road
晴翠接荒城 sun emerald-green meet ruined city
又送王孙去 again sendoff king’s grandson go
萋萋满別情 dense, dense full separation feelingTranslation:
Unstoppable, the grass on the ancient plain,
Each year it withers, then flourishes again.
Wildfire cannot destroy it all.
The spring wind blows it back to life.
From far away, its fragrance invades the old road
Its emerald green surges all the way to the ruined city.
Again, I say goodbye to my noble friend,
Unending, my feelings at seeing you leave.访杨云卿淮上别业 Visit Yang Yunqing’s villa by the Huai River
惠崇 （Author: Hui Chong, 10th century)
地近得频到， place close can frequently arrive
相携向野亭。 each other carry go toward wild temple
河分冈势断， river divide mountain tendency break
春入烧痕青。 spring enter burn trace green
望久人收钓， look long time people stop fishing
吟余鹤振翎。 chant after cranes flapping wing
不愁归路晚， not worry return path late
明月上前汀。 bright moon shines on front flat land beside the waterTranslation:
I can come often, to this nearby place,
And walk with you to the wilderness temple.
A river runs between the mountains
And the green grass of spring enters the burned out fields.
The fishermen have all gone home, and still, I’m taking in this view,
After I chanted my last poem, the cranes took flight.
I’m not worried about going home late
The bright moon lights the sandy shore.Translation Notes:
The first poem was written by Bai Juyi, a famous poet during the middle Tang Dynasty. Bai Juyi was only seventeen years old when he wrote Grass. Legend has it that when he went to the capital city of Chang An, a gentleman reacted to his name, which means something along the lines of “relaxed, easy living,” by telling him that he wouldn’t find living in Chang An very easy. Bai Juyi then showed him his poem, and the gentleman corrected himself, noting that anyone with such extraordinary talent might indeed find life easy in Chang An.
When Bai Juyi wrote this, grass was already a metaphor both for the common people and for emotions. He was drawing on a long tradition when he combined the two. The repeated first word, which means “lush,” also has a secondary meaning of “depart,” foreshadowing the final two lines. We chose to translate it as “unstoppable” both because unstoppable also hints at departure and because it is a very dynamic word, suitable to the raw energy of something that cannot be destroyed.
The second poem was written by Hui Chong, a monk in the Northern Song Dynasty who is known for his poems and paintings portraying small landscapes. As we've indicated in previous Substack posts, Chinese poets sometimes borrow symbols and concepts from the great works of the past. These two poems both use grass as a symbol of renewal — it returns even after being destroyed by fire. The underlying feelings in the poems are very different, though. Bai’s Grass is vivid and dynamic, and uses the wild grass as a metaphor for his own “unending feelings.” Hui’s poem is tranquil. Instead of projecting his feelings onto nature, he immerses himself so much in the beauty of his surroundings that he didn’t want to return home.