宋 Song · 诗 Poem
乡村四月
The Fourth Month in the Countryside
绿遍山原白满川，子规声里雨如烟。
乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田。
Amid the cuckoo's cry the rain is like mist,
In the fourth month the countryside has few idle folk,
No sooner done with silkworms and mulberries than they plant the rice.
Meaning
The poem paints the busy labor of a Jiangnan countryside in early summer, celebrating the fullness of rural life and the diligence of its farmers.
山坡原野一片葱绿，河水映着天光泛白；子规鸟啼声里，细雨如烟如雾。乡村四月里闲人很少，刚刚忙完采桑养蚕，又要下田插秧了。
Appreciation
The opening couplet lays down color and sound—green hills, white water, the cuckoo's call, smoke-like rain—a sumi-e of Jiangnan in early summer. The closing couplet shifts to plain narration, where 'no sooner... than' compresses an entire season of toil into two clauses. The unadorned phrasing makes the farmers' ceaseless work feel matter-of-fact and true, free of any romanticizing.
【白话串讲】 “绿遍山原白满川，子规声里雨如烟”——翁卷写乡村四月：绿遍山原。“乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田”——刚忙完蚕桑，又要插秧。最真实的农忙诗。 【意象与手法】以“绿遍”“白满”设色，“子规声里雨如烟”以声衬景、以烟写雨，绘出江南初夏田园图。 【情感与主旨】写江南农村四月繁忙的劳作景象，赞美乡村生活的充实与农人的勤劳。 【名句点睛】“乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田”——以平淡叙事写尽农忙，朴实而真切。
Background
Weng Juan was one of the Southern Song 'Four Spirits of Yongjia.' This poem depicts the early-summer scene of Jiangnan villages.
《乡村四月》为宋代翁卷所作，是写乡村四月、农事繁忙的诗。翁卷（生卒年不详），字续古，一字灵舒，永嘉人，宋代诗人，“永嘉四灵”之一。此诗：绿遍山原白满川，子规声里雨如烟。乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田。全诗写乡村四月、农事繁忙，是翁卷诗的名篇。
Art
Bright coloring (green, white), combined sight and sound, closing with plain narration.
《乡村四月》艺术上以乡村春景的描摹与农事繁忙的清新见长。全诗四句：首写绿遍白满——“绿遍山原白满川，子规声里雨如烟”写绿遍山原白满川、子规声里雨如烟；末写蚕桑插田——“乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田”写乡村四月闲人少、才了蚕桑又插田。全诗以乡村春景写农事繁忙，正是翁卷诗清新的笔法。
Allusions
Allusions in 'The Fourth Month in the Countryside' run through 'green spreading over hills and plains,' 'white flooding the streams,' 'the cuckoo' (zi gui), 'rain like mist,' 'silkworms and mulberry,' and 'planting the rice fields.' 'The cuckoo' draws on the lore of the cuckoo whose cry announces spring; each other phrase simply names what it sees. The poem renders the busy farming month of the countryside in fresh colors, its allusions natural and its clarity self-evident -- the manner of Weng Juan's verse.
《乡村四月》用典在“绿遍山原”“白满川”“子规”“雨如烟”“蚕桑”“插田”。“绿遍山原”写绿遍山原；“白满川”写白满川；“子规”用子规之典（杜鹃啼春）；“雨如烟”写雨如烟；“蚕桑”写蚕桑；“插田”写插田（插秧）。全诗以这些意象写乡村四月、农事繁忙，用典自然而清新自见，正是翁卷诗的笔法。
Commentary
Critics say it is 'plain in language yet full in meaning, with the true flavor of farm life.'
《乡村四月》是翁卷诗的名篇，也是宋诗中写乡村农事的代表作。此诗写乡村四月、农事繁忙，向为论者称道。论者多赏其乡村春景的描摹与农事繁忙的清新——“绿遍山原白满川，子规声里雨如烟”写绿遍山原白满川、子规声里雨如烟，清新之极；“乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田”写乡村四月闲人少、才了蚕桑又插田，更见其忙。翁卷为永嘉四灵之一，诗风清苦而清新，此诗正是其代表——以乡村春景写农事繁忙，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
绿遍山原白满川，子规声里雨如烟。
Green fills the hills and plains, white fills the streams; amid the cuckoo's cry, the rain is like mist.
绿遍山原白满川，子规声里雨如烟。
Green spreads over hills and plains, white fills the rivers; amid the cuckoo's call, the rain falls like mist.
首写绿遍山原白满川、子规声里雨如烟，是全诗写乡村春景的起点。“绿遍山原白满川”写绿遍山原白满川——“绿遍山原白满川”写绿遍山原、白水满川——绿遍山原白满川；“子规声里雨如烟”用子规之典写子规声里雨如烟——“子规声里雨如烟”用杜鹃啼春之典写子规声中、细雨如烟——子规声里雨如烟。二句写绿遍山原白满川、子规声里雨如烟：绿遍山原白满川，子规声里雨如烟。以“绿遍山原白满川”写绿遍山原、白水满川，以“子规声里雨如烟”用子规之典写子规声中、细雨如烟，正是翁卷诗写乡村春景的起点——绿满山原，子规雨烟。
The opening writes the green-fills-the-hills-and-plains and cuckoo-cry-mist-rain, the whole poem's village-spring-scene start. The green-fills-the-hills-and-plains-white-fills-the-streams writing the green hills and white water; the amid-the-cuckoo's-cry-the-rain-is-like-mist using the cuckoo's spring-cry allusion. Two lines writing the green spread and misty rain: green fills the land, the cuckoo's call amid mist. Using the green-and-white for the spread, and the cuckoo-allusion for the misty rain, precisely Weng Juan's village-spring-scene start — the hills green, the cuckoo's misty rain.
乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田。
In the village's fourth month few are idle; just finished with silkworms and mulberry, they are transplanting rice again.
乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田。
In the village's fourth month few people are idle; just finishing the silkworm and mulberry work, they are at the rice transplanting again.
末写乡村四月闲人少、才了蚕桑又插田，是全诗写农事繁忙的归结。“乡村四月闲人少”写乡村四月闲人少——“乡村四月闲人少”写乡村四月、闲人很少——乡村四月闲人少；“才了蚕桑又插田”写才了蚕桑又插田——“才了蚕桑又插田”写才做完蚕桑、又去插田——才了蚕桑又插田。二句写乡村四月闲人少、才了蚕桑又插田：乡村四月闲人少，才了蚕桑又插田。以“乡村四月闲人少”写四月乡村、闲人无几，以“才了蚕桑又插田”写才了蚕桑、又忙插田，正是翁卷诗写农事繁忙的归结——四月闲少，蚕桑插田。
The close writes the village's-fourth-month-few-idle and just-finished-silkworm-and-mulberry's transplanting-again, the whole poem's farming-busyness close. The village's-fourth-month-few-people-are-idle writing the April village and the few idle; the just-finishing-the-silkworm-and-mulberry-work-they-are-at-the-rice-transplanting-again writing the silkworm done and the transplanting. Two lines writing the few idle and the busy fields: April has few idle hands, the silkworm work and the transplanting. Using the few-idle for the April's scarcity of leisure, and the just-finished-again for the busy transplanting, precisely Weng Juan's farming-busyness close — April's few idle, the silkworm and the rice fields.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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