远上寒山石径斜，distant high cold mountain stone footpath inclined
白云生处有人家。 white cloud birth resides has intimates
停车坐爱枫林晚， stop wagon seated loving maple grove eve
霜叶红于二月花。 frost leaf red at february flower
The winding stone mountain path rises on high
The white clouds give birth to their own kind
We stopped the chariot to love the maple forest that eve
February’s frost on the Crimson Leaves
Yuǎn shàng hán shān shí jìng xié,
báiyún shēng chù yǒu rén jiā,
tíngchē zuò ài fēnglín wǎn,
shuāngyè hóng yú èryuè huā.
Chinese maples, unlike Canadian ones, ordinarily have red leaves, in all seasons, not merely in cold autumns. Usually I can translate poems well. In this one the word-for-word translation brings out the fact it is a “mere” pastoral scene describing natures beauty.