唐詩
望庐山瀑布
Li Bai
日照香炉生紫烟，遥看瀑布挂前川。
飞流直下三千尺，疑是银河落九天。
翻訳
Sunlight shines on Incense Burner Peak, and purple mist rises. From afar, I see the waterfall hanging before the river valley. The flying torrent plunges straight down for three thousand feet. I almost think it is the Milky Way falling from the highest heavens.
解説
"Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu" is one of Li Bai's most famous landscape poems. It describes a waterfall, but not through careful realism. Instead, Li Bai uses bold imagery, exaggeration, and cosmic imagination to turn the scene into a heavenly spectacle. The first line sets the atmosphere. Sunlight falls on Incense Burner Peak, and purple mist rises from the mountain. This is partly a natural effect of light, vapor, and cloud, but the phrase also gives the mountain an otherworldly, almost immortal quality. The second line presents the waterfall from a distance. Seen far away, the falling water looks as though it is hanging in front of the valley. The verb “hanging” is crucial. It gives shape to something moving, making the waterfall seem like a long white curtain suspended against the mountain. The third line releases the full force of motion. The water “flees” and “plunges straight down.” “Three thousand feet” is not a literal measurement; it is Li Bai's way of expressing overwhelming height and power. The final line is the poem's great imaginative leap. The waterfall seems like the Milky Way falling from the ninth heaven. With this comparison, the waterfall is no longer just a mountain stream. It becomes a cosmic event, linking earth and sky. The poem's movement is clean and dramatic: sunlight and mist, distant view, falling force, then celestial transformation. Its beauty lies in grandeur rather than subtlety. Li Bai makes nature feel mythic, vast, and alive.
作者紹介
Li Bai, courtesy name Taibai and literary name Qinglian Jushi, was one of the greatest poets of the Tang dynasty and is often called the “Poet Immortal.” He spent much of his life traveling and became known for his bold imagination, natural fluency, romantic spirit, and love of freedom. His poetry ranges across landscape, Daoist transcendence, wine, friendship, history, frontier life, and personal aspiration. Representative works include “Bring in the Wine,” “The Road to Shu Is Hard,” “Quiet Night Thoughts,” “Setting Out Early from Baidi City,” “Viewing Tianmen Mountain,” and “Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu.” This poem shows his unique ability to transform a natural scene into a vision of cosmic scale.