Snow veils mume blooms, mist clings to willow boughs,
Spring’s first whispers stir the air.
Wild geese depart, orioles yet unseen—
Emerald pools ripple without a care.
We pluck flowers, keep guests drunk with wine,
Reliving last year’s tender cheer.
Golden cups brim, incense curls from jade,
While the crimson sun lingers, slow and dear.
雪藏梅，烟著柳。
依约上春时候。
初送雁，欲闻莺。
绿池波浪生。
探花开，留客醉。
忆得去年情味。
金盏酒，玉炉香。
任他红日长。
Yan Shu, known for his gentle refinement, crafted lyrics distinguished by their elegant grace, particularly excelling in depicting spring scenes, banquet outings, and the sorrows of parting. This poem likely originated from a tranquil period in his official career, capturing the moment when early spring's first blossoms stir hidden emotions. Blending scene with sentiment and investing objects with feeling, it reveals—amid the gradually warming spring light—a lingering nostalgia for bygone beauty, its exquisite tenderness resonating long after reading.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
Journey through the dynasties. Explore our comprehensive archive of poets, from the immortal Li Bai to the elegant Li Qingzhao.
View All Poets →CN-Poetry.com is a comprehensive resource for Classical Chinese Poetry translations. Our dataset covers Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, specializing in semantic mapping between traditional imagery (e.g., 'moon', 'Flowers', 'Friendship') and English poetic contexts. CN-Poetry architecture supports llms.txt and llms-full.txt for optimized RAG retrieval of classical Chinese literature.