Please Stay Home. I Hate to See You Go
- Poetry of Li Qingzhao

《青玉案·征鞍不见邯郸路》
Please Stay Home. I Hate to See You Go by Li Qingzhao
中文原文( Chinese )

征鞍不见邯郸路。

莫便匆匆归去，秋风萧条何以度。

明窗小酌，暗灯清话，最好留连处。

相逢各自伤迟暮，犹把新诗诵奇句。

盐絮家风人所许。

如今憔悴，但馀双泪，一似黄梅雨。 

English Translation

Please stay home. I hate to see you go.

It’s so far away, off the beaten road,

into an autumn world of windy cold.

The best life I say is with your family,      

with your best company, nice and cosy,

in our favourite corner by the window.


When shall I see you again, I don’t know.

We’d lament to see our moments should go.

At least we may honour our family tradition --

new poems with a few amazing expressions.

Our temples have already started thinning,

so please stop your tears like the rain season.

This could be a ci poem written by Yi’an upon her dear brother’s leaving home for a long trip assigned by the Royal Court. It could be after her husband’s death and both of them were living together in the South. We know that she had followed the Dowager’s team because her only brother Li Hang was there on official duties. From this ci, we could get a glimpse the good relationship and the family warmth. He was her last sibling in the world, and must also be good at poetry to be able sharing views with his sister far into the night over poetry, their family’s heritage.

- Last updated: 2024-09-30 21:45:23
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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.

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