谷雨

山色空蒙雨亦奇 shānsèkōngméngyǔyìqí

the hues of the hills are misty and empty — the rain too is marvelous / (fig.) West Lake's rain-shrouded beauty is as fine as the sunny version / (lit.) mountain-color empty-misty, rain also marvelous

小楼一夜听春雨 xiǎolóuyīyètīngchūnyǔ

in the little chamber, all night long, I listened to the spring rain / (fig.) an image of delicate sleepless reverie; the poet alone with the sound of rain / (lit.) small tower one night listen spring rain

谷 gǔ #3,952

valley / grain / corn

巴山夜雨涨秋池 bāshānyèyǔzhǎngqiūchí

night rain on Ba Mountain swells the autumn pond / Li Shangyin's line of separation — writing back north from rainy Sichuan, the rain comes to stand for homesickness itself

东边日出西边雨 dōngbiānrìchūxībiānyǔ

sun rises in the east while rain falls in the west — a paradoxical, mixed situation; or: feelings that are both 'there and not there' / literally: on the east side, the sun comes out; on the west side, rain

多少楼台烟雨中 duōshǎolóutáiyānyǔzhōng

how many towers and terraces stand in the misty rain / countless temples wreathed in rain and mist / closing line of Du Mu's Jiangnan Spring evoking Southern Dynasties' Buddhism

风流总被雨打风吹去 fēngliúzǒngbèiyǔdǎfēngchuīqù

all glory and romance are in the end beaten by rain and blown off by wind / (fig.) the splendor of past heroes and times inevitably fades into history / (lit.) elegance / dash — always gets rain-struck and wind-blown away

黄梅时节家家雨 huángméishíjiéjiājiāyǔ

during plum-rain season, every house sees rain / sets a scene of endless drizzle and waiting — poetic opener about the Jiangnan monsoon

山雨欲来风满楼 shānyǔyùláifēngmǎnlóu

the mountain rain is about to come, wind fills the tower — tense, foreboding calm before a storm / literally: as mountain rain is about to come, wind fills the tower

夜来风雨声 yèláifēngyǔshēng

in the night came the sound of wind and rain / the wind and rain stirred in the night / Meng Haoran's line from Spring Dawn