A Spring Song

A Beauty Nobody Sees: Liu Yuxi's Spring Song of Loneliness

Fresh Makeup and a Hopeful Heart

Liu Yuxi's Chun Ci (春词)—also known as He Letian Chun Ci (和乐天春词)—is a seven-character quatrain (jueju) written as a reply to a poem by his friend Bai Juyi. It opens with a young woman preparing for the day: Xin zhuang yi mian xia zhu lou. (新妆宜面下朱楼。) She has spent careful time on her makeup; the powder and colour sit perfectly on her face. She walks down the red stairs of her chamber with a light heart, hoping that spring—and perhaps someone to share it with—will be waiting below.

A Garden Locked in Silence

But the spring she finds is not the spring she hoped for: Shen suo chun guang yi yuan chou. (深锁春光一院愁。) The courtyard is deep and locked. The flowers bloom, the willows sway, and the sun is warm, yet all this beauty is trapped behind walls. The word "chou" (愁) means sorrow, and it fills not just the girl's heart but the whole courtyard. She is not a prisoner in chains; she is a prisoner of a life where no one comes to look at her.

Counting Flowers, Finding Only a Dragonfly

With nothing else to do, she walks to the middle of the garden: Xing dao zhong ting shu hua duo. (行到中庭数花朵。) She begins to count the flowers, one by one, as if counting could make the afternoon pass. It is a small, sad gesture—the only activity left to a woman who has been forgotten. Then something gentle happens: Qing ting fei shang yu sao tou. (蜻蜓飞上玉搔头。) A dragonfly flutters down and lands on her jade hairpin. The insect mistakes her for a flower. It is a pretty moment, but it is also the sharpest cut of the poem: even a dragonfly comes closer to her than any human being. Her beauty is real enough to fool nature, yet not real enough to bring a visitor through the locked gate.