Dim Scent
- Poetry of Jiang Kui

《暗⾹·旧时⽉⾊》

English Rendering

Aged moonlight, how many times

have you shone on me, beside the plum blossoms?

Listening to the sound of flute.

Wake up, love—despite the air being cold

like washed jade, we climbed

to pluck the newest buds. Now,

as I’ve aged, my oblivious brushstrokes too weak

to recite the Spring wind, the sparse,

rose-colored dapples beyond the bamboo forest

sending a sharp fragrance.

….

The water provinces, desolate.

I want to send you this sprig of plum blossoms

tonight. Tonight, snow piles

for ten thousand miles. The emerald wine glass

weeps against the damp petals.

Remember where we held hands, the moment

when a thousand trees suddenly

bent crimson beside a lake.

Then piece by piece, taken by the wind.

These assembled past … when, again, will I see?

Dim Scent by Jiang Kui
Dim Scent by Jiang Kui

Original Text (中文原文)

旧时⽉⾊,算⼏番照我,梅边吹笛?

唤起⽟⼈,不管清寒与攀摘。

何逊⽽今渐⽼,都忘却春风词笔。

但怪得⽵外疏花,⾹冷⼊瑶席。


江国,正寂寂,叹寄与路遥,夜雪初积。

翠尊易泣,红萼⽆⾔耿相忆。

长记曾携⼿处,千树压、西湖寒碧。

又⽚⽚、吹尽也,⼏时见得?

Analysis & Context

Jiang Kui, 1155–1221, Southern Song Dynasty

Reader's Companion

The Essence of the Verse

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.

Reading Between the Lines

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.

The Masters' Directory

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 | Chinese Poems in EnglishOptimized with Gemini AI for global cultural accessibility.
AI-AUGMENTED SYSTEM
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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.