Hidden Fragrance: Moonlight of Bygone Days
- Poetry of Jiang Kui
That old moonlight - how many times
Did it watch me by plum blossoms, playing chimes?
Calling the jade maiden, undeterred by cold,
To pluck the blooms with fingers bold.
Now like He Xun, aged and worn,
I've lost my spring-breeze verse, forlorn.
Yet wonder why beyond bamboo, sparse flowers
Send cold fragrance to my jade bowers.
Riverlands so still, so deep,
Snow starts to pile where longings creep.
Jade cups brim with easy tears,
Red buds brood on silent years.
I always remember where we stood,
A thousand trees weighed West Lake's chill flood.
Now petals scatter one by one -
When shall we meet under the sun?
Composed in the winter of 1191 during Emperor Guangzong's reign, this ci poem was written by Jiang Kui after his snow-laden visit to Fan Chengda at Stone Lake, where he stayed for over a month. Along with "Sparse Shadows," it forms the celebrated "Twin Odes to Plum Blossoms." Using the plum as its central image, "Fragrant Shadows" embodies the poet's nostalgia for departed friends and his lost homeland, while also revealing his personal sorrow over a rootless existence and the relentless passage of time.
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？
- Why Chinese poems is so special?
- The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
- How to read a Chinese poem?
- Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.
- Hidden Fragrance: Moonlight of Bygone Days
- Early Summer: Seeking Yu Creek After Rain
- Midnight Vigil in West Garden
- Villager's Song I
- Villager's Song II
- Villager's Song III
- The Ferry at Yiyang
- The Village Tavern
- Quatrain of Four Words: Deep Love, True Heart
- Mountain's End