晚来天欲雪

晚來天欲雪

wǎnláitiānyùxuě

phrase

Meanings

1 evening coming on, the sky about to snow
2 Bai Juyi's setup for an invitation over wine — the cold outside makes the small warm room all the warmer

Characters

coming / arrive

Examples

晚来天欲雪，不如喝一杯热酒。

Wǎn lái tiān yù xuě, bùrú hē yī bēi rè jiǔ.

Evening comes, the sky about to snow — better to have a cup of warm wine.

冬天的周末，窗外"晚来天欲雪"，屋里炉火正旺。

Dōngtiān de zhōumò, chuāng wài "wǎn lái tiān yù xuě", wū lǐ lúhuǒ zhèng wàng.

Winter weekend — outside, 'evening comes, the sky about to snow'; inside, the stove burns bright.

Tips

history

From 《问刘十九》 by 白居易 (Bai Juyi, Tang dynasty): '绿蚁新醅酒，红泥小火炉。晚来天欲雪，能饮一杯无？' Four lines, a perfect invitation to a friend — 'the wine is green-foamed, the stove is lit, snow is coming, fancy a cup?'

usage

欲 here = 'about to / on the verge of,' a classical sense that modern Chinese still retains (e.g. 摇摇欲坠).

Stroke Order

晚 wǎn

来 lái

天 tiān

欲 yù

雪 xuě