Watch the video below of 16 students from the MSON Chinese V course reciting “You are the April of This World” by Lin Huiyin (你是人间的四月天-林徽因 ). Our Chinese V course involves students across the country—from Connecticut to Minnesota to D.C.—who are passionate about studying the Chinese language and culture. The poem is in written form below the video.
In this dark time, 你是人间的四月天 represents the hope we feel for reaching Spring and someday the end of the pandemic.
– Sophie Sonnenfeld, class of 2021, Hopkins School
You Are the April of This World
Lin Huiyin
I think you are the April of this world,
Sure, you are the April of this world.
Your laughter has lit up all the wind,
So gently mingling with the spring.
You are the clouds in early spring,
The dusk wind blows up and down.
And the stars blink now and then,
Fine rain drops down amid the flowers.
So gentle and graceful,
You are crowned with garlands.
So sublime and innocent,
You are a full moon over each evening.
The snow melts, with that light yellow,
You look like the first budding green.
You are the soft joy of white lotus
Rising up in your fancy dreamland.
You’re the blooming flowers over the trees,
You’re a swallow twittering between the beams;
Full of love, full of warm hope,
You are the spring of this world!