A Chinese Poem for Children-咏鹅 (yŏng’é) To Ganders

É,    é,    é,
鹅，鹅，鹅，
Ganders, ganders, ganders,

Qū xiàng xiàng tiān gē.
曲     项     向    天   歌。
Sing to the sky with necks curved.

Bái máo fú lǜ shuĭ,
白    毛  浮 绿  水，
White feathers afloat on verdant waters,

Hóng zhǎng bō qīng bō.
红      掌      拨  清   波。
Orange webbed feet push the clear water.

About the Poem

When the author wrote the poem, he was just seven years old, so the poem vividly describes the ganders from a child’s perspective. When reading it, you feel as if there really are ganders before you. You can hear their singing and see their beautiful feathers and the waves created by their movements. These simple sentences not only create a beautiful image of the ganders afloat on the water, but also show the author’s pleasant disposition.

Author Brief
The author, 骆宾王(Luò Bīnwáng) Luo Bingwang(640-684), a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote this poem when he was just seven years old. He was widely regarded as the one of four distinguished poets of the early Tang Dynasty.

生词(shēngcí) Vocabulary:

咏(yŏng): v to admire something

项(xiàng): n the back of the neck

掌(zhǎng): n the paw of the gander

拨(bō): v to push aside

清波(qīngbō): n the clear wave

More Poems For Kids:

春晓 (Chūn xiăo) A Spring Morning

登鹳雀楼(Dēng guàn què lóu)- On the Stork Tower

General Chinese (Beginner Level) 

General Chinese (Intermediate Level)