Dance of the Cavalry

Poetry of Yan Shu 《破阵子·燕子来时新社》

English Rendering

When swallows come,we worship gods of spring;

Then flowers fall,we mourn for the dear dead.

We hear,amid the leaves,the orioles sing;

Beside the pool we see the green moss spread.

The willow catkins fly as the day's lengthening.


My neighbour's daughter and her friends are sweet,

Mulberry leaves to gather now they meet.

Last night,she wonders,why such happy dreams?

They foretell that she wins the game of grass,it seems.

A sparkling smile upon her fair face beams.

Dance of the Cavalry by Yan Shu -
"Dance of the Cavalry" by Yan Shu

Original Text (中文原文)

燕子来时新社,梨花落后清明。

池上碧苔三四点,叶底黄鹂一两声。

日长飞絮轻。

巧笑东邻女伴,采桑径里逢迎。

疑怪昨宵春梦好,元是今朝斗草赢。

笑从双脸生。

Meaning & Analysis

This poem depicts in the first stanza the spring days when country folk worshipped local gods and mourned for their ancestors.In the second we find a vivid description of country lasses gathering mulberry leaves for silkworms and playing the game of one hundred grasses.

Related Themes

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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