A riot of blooms begins to dazzle the eye

Hi, my dear Blockchain Poets readers, I am back again since I am beckoned and encouraged by Teacher @dbooster's new blog--Come Join Blockchain Poets ~ Write Poetry And Be Rewarded.

Today I would like to share an ancient Chinese poem of four lines written by Bai Juyi
from Tang Dynasty.

However, I must confess that the reason why I am inspired to introduce this little poem is just because of an English poem by William Wordsworth which I've learned recently from a Youtube video. Here please allow me to post this poem both in English and Chinese. To be frank, this Chinese version was just translated by none other than myself, since I am not satisfied with all of Chinese translations online.

A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal

A slumber did my spirit seal;
I had no human fears:
She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years.

No motion has she now, no force;
She neither hears nor sees;
Rolled round in earth's diurnal course,
With rocks, and stones, and trees.
----William Wordsworth

​
​乱花渐欲迷人眼
当初我从不曾有凡人的恐惧（凡人必有一死）
在我心中，她看上去像是与尘世无关的女神

然而，风云突变
现在她再没有那种令我痴迷的力量
她躺在那里，一动不动
她不看也不听
依着大自然运行的法则
她化作了岩石，化作了林木！

​-----威廉•华兹华斯

Yeah, it is absolutely not an easy thing for us Chinese to translate "A slumber did my spirit seal" perfectly and accurately. I mulled it over for a long time in the night before the poem line of Bai Juyi--乱花渐欲迷人眼 occured to me.

So without further ado, let's enjoy the poem from Bai Juyi! It is also a beautiful poem about the lovely spring!

Source

钱塘湖春行
（唐）白居易

乱花渐欲迷人眼，
浅草才能没马蹄。
最爱湖东行不足，
绿杨阴里白沙堤。

You can notice that I am trying to conflate "A slumber did the spirit seal' with this Chinese poem line--乱花渐欲迷人眼. They show the wonder of equally satisfactory results in different approachs!

Below is its English translation from the classical translator--Pro. Xu Yuanchong.

A riot of blooms begins to dazzle the eye;
Amid short grass the horse hoofs can barely be seen.
I love best the east of the lake under the sky;
The bank paved with white sand is shaded by willows green.

"A riot of blooms begins to dazzle the eye" is just similar to "A slumber did my spirit seal". It is so true that we can be enchanted so that we feel as if our sense organ/spirit was blinded and sealed by opulence/incredible beauty.

Another English translation whose author is unknown:

Myriads of flowers slowly enchant the eye.
The new grass barely covers my horse's hooves.
I love this eastern shore. I cannot get enough of
Shadows beneath green poplars, white sands of the dike.

As an ancient Chinese poetry lover, I can't help thinking of these beautiful ancient Chinese poems describing the beautiful spring scenery, especially now--in the spring time after the cold winter just ended, I guess it can also be more interesting for my English-speaking readers to help enter the fantastic ancient Chinese realm through reading these spring poems.

Thank you for watching!