Palace of Celebration Spring: Water Chestnut Waves
- Poetry of Jiang Kui

《庆宫春·双桨莼波》

English Rendering

Double oars stir water chestnut waves,

A straw cloak brushes through pine-kissed rain—

Dusk’s sorrow slowly fills the vast expanse.

I call to my gull allies:

They dip and soar as if to land,

Then glide past treetops, leaving me behind.


That time I returned alone,

My lone boat cut through clouds and snow,

Sailing into the night.

Now, heart heavy, I see again

Those faintly traced eyebrow peaks,

Their dark contours pressing low.


Along the Perfume-Gathering Path, spring chills linger.

An old man sways drunkenly,

Singing to himself—who answers?

Gazing west toward Hanging Rainbow Bridge,

I long to drift away with the wind—

This urge, lifelong, remains untamed.


Sobered, I find waves have carried the past afar.

Lost in thought, I see her still:

Jade hairpins, white silk socks...

Where is she now?

Only the railings remain,

Keeping me fleeting company.

Palace of Celebration Spring: Water Chestnut Waves by Jiang Kui
Palace of Celebration Spring: Water Chestnut Waves by Jiang Kui

Original Text (中文原文)

双桨莼波,一蓑松雨,暮愁渐满空阔。

呼我盟鸥,翩翩欲下,背人还过木末。

那回归去,荡云雪、孤舟夜发。

伤心重见,依约眉山,黛痕低压。


采香径里春寒,老子婆娑,自歌谁答?

垂虹西望,飘然引去,此兴平生难遏。

酒醒波远,正凝想、明挡素袜。

如今安在?惟有阑干,伴人一霎。

Analysis & Context

Composed in the winter of 1196 during Emperor Ningzong's reign, this ci poem was written when Jiang Kui passed Rainbow Bridge (垂虹桥) again while traveling from Fengyu to Liangxi by night. Five years prior, he had stopped here during a snowy homeward journey accompanied by Xiaohong, a maidservant gifted by his friend Fan Chengda, and commemorated the moment in verse. Now revisiting the site alone—Xiaohong gone, Fan deceased for three years—the poet channels his nostalgia for lost companions and vanished youth into this lyrical meditation on memory's fragility.

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 English  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.