Tang Dynasty
Spring Dawn
Meng Haoran
春眠不觉晓，处处闻啼鸟。
夜来风雨声，花落知多少。
Translation
In spring sleep, I do not notice dawn. Everywhere, I hear birds singing. Last night came the sound of wind and rain. How many flowers must have fallen?
Analysis
'Spring Dawn' is one of the most familiar poems in the Tang tradition. Its language is extremely simple, but it captures a complete emotional moment: waking from spring sleep, hearing birds, remembering the night's wind and rain, and wondering about fallen flowers. The first line begins with bodily experience. Spring weather is mild and comfortable, so the speaker sleeps deeply and does not notice dawn. Spring is not first seen; it is first felt through sleep, warmth, and delayed waking. The second line shifts to sound. On waking, the speaker hears birds everywhere. The word 'everywhere' makes the whole surrounding world feel filled with spring. The morning is alive before it is even visually described. The third line turns back to the night before. The speaker remembers hearing wind and rain. The line is light, almost half-recollected, as if the sounds entered through sleep. The final line gives the poem its emotional depth. If wind and rain came in the night, many flowers may have fallen. The poet does not go outside to count them. He simply wonders. That question contains tenderness and regret. The poem's power lies in balance. The first two lines are bright and full of life; the last two lines introduce the fragility of spring. Morning birds and fallen flowers belong to the same season. Meng Haoran lets joy and gentle sadness coexist without explanation.
About the Author
Meng Haoran was a major Tang dynasty landscape and pastoral poet from Xiangyang in Xiangzhou, often known as Meng Xiangyang. He did not achieve high office and spent much of his life in reclusion, travel, and literary friendship. Together with Wang Wei, he is known as one of the central figures of the High Tang landscape and pastoral tradition. His poetry is clear, natural, and understated, often focusing on mountains, rivers, rural life, travel, reclusion, and everyday feeling. 'Spring Dawn' is his most famous short poem, admired for turning an ordinary moment of waking into a lasting image of spring.