相思 original text
紅豆生南國，秋來發故枝。願君多采擷，此物最相思。
Stay close to the sentence.
Red beans grow in the southern land.
When autumn comes, they send out old branches.
I wish you would gather many of them.
This thing is most associated with longing.
Let the image breathe.
Red beans grow in the southern lands,
and in autumn they fill the old branches.
I hope you will gather a handful of them,
for they are the tokens of longing.
What to know
The red bean is a traditional image associated with longing and remembrance. Wang Wei keeps the addressee open, so the poem can sound like a message to a friend, a loved one, or anyone separated by distance.
What to notice
The poem moves from place, to season, to action, and finally to feeling. Its emotional center is not a declaration but a small request: gather these beans and let the object remember for us.
Three useful phrases.
- 南國
- the southern lands or southern region
- 故枝
- old branches; a phrase that suggests returning season and memory
- 采擷
- to gather or pick carefully