LISTEN TO THE TEXTLISTEN TO SHIRLEY PLAY & SING THE POEM

Hi friends, have you ever seen a sunset over a river where half the water looks as green as emerald and the other half looks as red as ruby? Have you ever seen the sun setting in the western sky while the moon has already risen in the eastern heavens?

Anyway, I have seen them in my mind because of a classical poem by Tang Dynasty (618 - 908) poet Bai Juyi.

Maybe because I enjoyed this little poem so much it took me only 20 minutes or so to write a piece of music for it and I have written Chinese calligraphy for the poem too. However, it took me a long time to record it.

I really hope that my effort will be a little help to you in learning about Chinese culture and in improving your Chinese language level.

Bai Juyi (772―846) was one of the 3 greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty(618 - 908). I have introduced three of his poems to you already; you can click on the links below to review then:

No.03: Chinese Classical Poem 0075 & Shirley Created Music-0065: Dali Si Taohua -- Peachblossoms of Dali Temple

No.02: Chinese Classical Poem & Shirley Sung It as an Art Song -- 014: Hua Fei Hua -- A Flower Is In The Fog

No.01: Chinese Classical Poem--0021 & Shirley Created Music : Sending Off On The Ancient Grassland


MAIN MEANING OF THE POEMLISTEN TO SHIRLEY PLAY & SING THE POEM

Singing by a River at Dusk

By Bai Juyi( Tang )

A ray of setting sun is spreading across the water,   
Half of the river is as green as emerald,
the other half of the river is as red as ruby.
What a lovely early September night it is!
The dew on the grass seems like pearls,
the moon in the sky looks like a bow...


NEW WORDS AND PRONUNCIATION :

Please click on any Chinese character to see its Chinese pinyin, pronunciation and meaning, and then to read it after me.

CHINESE CHARACTERS :


暮江吟

白居易 （ 唐 ）

一道残阳铺水中，
半江瑟瑟半江红。
可怜九月初三夜，
露似真珠月似弓。

LISTEN TO SHIRLEY PLAY & SING THE POEM


If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please write to shirley@ebridge.cn or shirleyz004@yahoo.com. You are also welcome to publish your opinions on the Message Board.

Shirley Zhang
Written, Sung, Translated and Recorded on Sun, April 15, 2007