Spring God is about to leave the Song capital
- Poetry of Li Qingzhao

《怨王孙·春暮》

English Rendering

Spring God is about to leave the Song capital,

taking the vibes of romance wasted behind walls.

The doors to my chamber find grass grown long.

By dusk, all messenger geese are quiet and gone.

My wandering eye beholds within a restless gloom

stirred by his absent presence in our upstairs room.


Love appeals even more when it is so painful,

making it even harder to forget and let go.

Another year, another Cold Food Festival,

a forgotten swing and a forgotten road

are covered in the rain of falling pear blooms

in an empty home under the rising full-moon.

Spring God is about to leave the Song capital by Li Qingzhao
Spring God is about to leave the Song capital by Li Qingzhao

Original Text (中文原文)

帝里春晚,重门深院。

草绿阶前,暮天雁断。

楼上远信谁传,恨绵绵。

多情自是多沾惹,难拚舍,又是寒食也。

秋千巷陌,人静皎月初斜,浸梨花。

Analysis & Context

"-  to the tune of Yuanwangsun"

This is a good example of sentimental boudoir ci poems very popular among the gentle class in the Song dynasty. Many of the writers could be gentlemen who wrote there and then for entertainment on the occasion. The singing girls would sing them to the old tune as defined and played by the gentleman himself or a musician over Gu Qin, a 7-stringed musical board popular even today.

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.

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