The moon sinks westward, crows cry, and a piercing chill seems to fill the night sky. Riverside maples and the lights of fishing boats keep the sorrowful traveler company as he lies sleepless. From Hanshan Temple outside Gusu, the midnight bell reaches the moored traveler's boat.

姑苏: present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu. 寒山寺: a temple west of Suzhou. 夜泊: mooring a boat at night. 江枫: maple trees beside the river. 渔火: lights on fishing boats. 愁眠: sleeping in sorrow, with a suggestion of restless tossing and turning.

“霜满天” (frost fills the sky) conveys the chill felt in the night; it need not mean frost drifting through the air. The midnight bell is the poem's central sound, and modern temple schedules need not be used to invalidate the line. This page follows the common reading “江枫” (riverside maples).

Reading guide: This seven-character quatrain records a traveler's nighttime impressions while mooring at Suzhou. The moon, trees, and lights in view echo the cries of crows and the sound of bells, placing a night's homesick sorrow within Jiangnan's waterside landscape, quiet yet not without sound.

The first line darkens the moonlight while making sound and chill more distinct. In the second, shadowed maples and bright fishing lights gather around “愁眠,” “sorrowful sleep.” Though the person aboard the traveler's boat is not directly described, that person remains the center of perception.

The final two lines move from nearby sights to sounds from a distant temple. The word “到,” meaning “reach,” traces the bell’s passage through darkness and across the water to the traveler’s boat. Sound thus opens up the space, while loneliness stretches into its lingering resonance.