How deeply shrouded her courtyard had been,
the windows clouded with mist, chambers shut.
But see! The tips of willows, plum buds,
and a full Spring returned to the Moling trees,
as if for an aging stranger locked in J.K. City.
Who sings so softly of the moon and the wind,
of getting old too, and cut-off from honors, …
and no one pitying her, pallid and withering,
too glum for the festival lanterns of Spring,
unable to go out in the fresh snow fallen.
庭院深深深几许？
云窗雾阁常扃。
柳梢梅萼渐分明。
春归秣陵树，人老建康城。
感月吟风多少事，如今老去无成。
谁怜憔悴更凋零。
试灯无意思，踏雪没心情。
- to the Tune of Linjiangxian
According to Another Collection of Li Qingzhao, this ci was composed in 1129, after she had joined her husband in Jiankang, now the city of Nanjing. Before the Lantern Festival（元宵节）, the last day of Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), people tried on lanterns to be used the next night. Our poet cannot bring herself to participate; she can't give up thinking about her own and her country's sad retreats before the invading enemy. The sorrow in this, her second Spring in Jiankang, is for her country, not merely on celebrating when the nation is in such dire peril.
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.