The Honking Geese Are Gone to the North
- Poetry of Li Qingzhao
归鸿声断残云碧，背窗雪落炉烟直。
烛底凤钗明，钗头人胜轻。
角声催晓漏，曙色回牛斗。
春意看花难，西风留旧寒。
The honking geese are gone to the north,
Just a boundless sky, puffy clouds torn.
Outside the north sills find yet some snow,
From the censer, long and still, a thin smoke.
The candlelight sees a puppet in gold paper,
nestled by my phoenix hairpin, shining in vain.
The dripping of water clock is often broken
by the Jin army horn blaring from beyond.
The stars are gone, nothing in the sky at dawn,
just the west wind to greet a foreign spring.
It’s not yet for the darling buds and bells.
My heart feels like water, in winter chill.
- to the tune of Pusaman
written by Li Qingzhao (Song Dynasty)
A strong sense of rootless and alienated sentiment is felt here as it was written in the early days of her settlement in Hangzhou soon after her loss of home, husband, and ten households of artistic collections. The scene starts at twilight through her sleepless night to the next morning. Not a word of loneliness or teardrops used in the work but hidden in every line. The wild geese are often mentioned in Li Qingzhao’s poems to symbolize her nostalgic and homesick feelings towards her husband and home at Qingzhou up north. Though she had some social life in this new land, but her heart stayed in the homeland of her dreams. Gradually, she withdrew to her small circle of friends, living the life of the Recluse Yi’an.
- 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.
List of Chinese poets
Pre-Qin Poetry
Han poetry
Ban Gu Cao Cao Cao Zhi Cao Pi Cai Wenji Kong Rong Liu Bang Liu Che Qin Jia Ruan Ji Su Wu Wang Can Xiang Yu Xu Gan Zhang Heng AnonymousSix Dynasties Poetry
Tao Yuanming Zhang HuaTang poetry
Bai Juyi Cen Shen Chen Zi'ang Cui Hao Chang Jian Cui Tu Chen Tao Du Fu Du Mu Du Shenyan Dai Shulun Du Xunhe Du Qiuniang Gao Shi Gu Kuang Gao Pian Han Yu He Zhizhang Han Hong Huangfu Ran Han Wo Huang Chao Jia Dao Jiaoran Jin Changzu Li Bai (Li Po) Li He Li Shangyin Liu Yuxi Liu Zongyuan Luo Binwang Li Qi Liu Changqing Lu Lun Li Shen Li Yu Li Qiao Li Yi Liu Fangping Liu Zhongyong Meng Haoran Meng Jiao Ma Dai Pei Di Qian Qi Quan Deyu Sikong Shu Song Zhiwen Shen Quanqi Shangguan Wan'er Xuanzong of Tang Wang Bo Wang Changling Wang Wei Wang Zhihuan Wei Yingwu Wen Tingyun Wang Han Wei Zhuang Wang Wan Xue Tao Xu Hun Yuan Zhen Yu Xuanji Yu Shinan Yuan Jie Zhang Jiuling Zhang Ji Zhang Hu Zhang Zhihe Zu Yong Zhang Xu Zhu Qingyu Zheng Tian Zhang Bi Zhang RuoxuSong Poetry
Cai Xiang Chao Chongzhi Fan Chengda Fan Zhongyan Huang Tingjian He Zhu Kou Zhun Jiang Kui Lu You Li Qingzhao Liu Yong Mei Yaochen Ouyang Xiu Pan Lang Qin Guan Qian Weiyan Su Shi Su Zhe Song Qi Wang Anshi Wen Tianxiang Weng Juan Xin Qiji Yang Wanli Yue Fei Yan Jidao Yan Shu Ye Shaoweng Zeng Gong Zhang Xian Zhou Bangyan Zhu Shuzhen Zhu Xi Zhou DunyiYuan poetry
Bai Pu Guan Hanqing Ma Zhiyuan Xu Zaisi Yang WeizhenMing poetry
Chen Jiru Tang Yin Tang Xianzu Xu Wei Yu Qian Yang ShenQing poetry
Cao Xueqin He Shuangqing Nalan Xingde Pu Songling Tsangyang Gyatso Wang Guowei Yuan Mei Zheng Xie Zhao Yi