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Thursday, December 5, 2019

On A Rainy Day 雨日上



Today, Wednesday, December 04, 2019 was a rainy day. It came with a vengeance and too soon, whimpered like a whisper of a departing lover.  So, when sunshine peeked out of the clouds languorously,  I went for my mundane daily jog.  The road was wet and the air, pure and fresh.  Alone I went, alone in thoughts when words came a calling…

雨過土濕獨步閑 The rains had passed, the ground is wet and in leisure I strolled,
湖岸靜思烟鎖橫 Deep in thoughts, enshrouded in dense fog by the lakes's banks.
船頭不聲豁然露 When in a sudden flash, the boat’s prow appeared,
冲破沆瀣再無煩 Slicing through the mists, no longer in vexation.

When the context is clear, Chinese is a pronoun dropping language.  Unless there is no other interpretation, pronouns can be added for fluency in the target language as in the first line.  However, in the last line, unless one knows exactly what the poet had in mind, adding pronouns won't be appropriate at all as it can imply the boat passengers are relieved to see the banks.



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