Song Dynasty
Phoenix Perching on Plane Tree · Lanxi
Cao Guan
桂棹悠悠分浪稳。
烟幕层峦，绿水连天远。
赢得锦囊诗句满，兴来豪饮挥金碗。
飞絮撩人花照眼。
天阔风微，燕外晴丝卷。
翠竹谁家门可款。
舣舟闲上斜阳岸。
Translation
The cassia-wood oars move slowly, parting the waves with steady ease. Mist veils the layered hills, and green water stretches far, joining the sky in the distance. This journey through mountains and water has filled my brocade pouch with lines of poetry. When the mood rises, I drink deeply, swinging a golden bowl in my hand. Flying catkins stir the heart; bright blossoms dazzle the eyes. The sky is wide, the wind is faint, and beyond the swallows, fine sunlit threads curl in the air. Behind that green bamboo, whose gate might I knock upon? I moor the boat, and leisurely step ashore onto the bank lit by the slanting sun.
Analysis
This lyric describes a springtime boat journey on Lanxi. The poem is less philosophical than Su Shi's landscape lyrics and less socially grounded than Fan Chengda's rural poems. Its world is that of refined literati leisure: boating, viewing mountains, drinking, composing poetry, and seeking out a secluded dwelling. The opening line establishes the rhythm. The cassia-wood oars move slowly and smoothly, parting the waves without urgency. 'Cassia oars' gives the boat an elegant, literary quality, while 'steady' and 'slow' set the mood of unhurried travel. 'Mist veils the layered hills, and green water stretches far, joining the sky' opens the scene into a classic Jiangnan landscape: moist air, green water, distant mountains, and a long horizon. The landscape is broad but gentle. The image of the brocade pouch full of poetry shows the speaker's identity as a literatus. The scenery does not merely please the eye; it produces lines of verse. Wine follows poetry naturally. When the mood rises, the speaker drinks freely from a golden bowl. The poem is refined, but not stiff; it has pleasure and spontaneity. The second stanza turns to close spring details. Catkins fly, flowers shine, the sky is wide, the breeze is light, and fine sunlit threads curl beyond the swallows. These images are delicate and airy, emphasizing the lightness of late spring. The line about the bamboo-hidden gate gives the poem its narrative turn. The speaker sees a dwelling behind green bamboo and wonders whose house it is, whether he might knock and visit. This suggests a search for quiet companionship, reclusion, or simply the pleasure of following one's impulse while traveling. The ending leaves the result unresolved. The boat is moored; the speaker steps onto the sunlit bank. We are not told whom he meets or what happens next. That incompleteness is part of the charm. The poem is about the freedom of the moment: seeing beauty, feeling poetic excitement, drinking, noticing a hidden gate, and going ashore because the heart is moved.
About the Author
Cao Guan, courtesy name Zongchen and literary name Shuangxi, was a Southern Song ci poet from Dongyang. He passed the jinshi examination in the Shaoxing period and again in the Qiandao period, and his official career was complicated. His lyrics often focus on landscape excursions, banquets, drinking, and reclusive pleasures. His style is clear, elegant, and graceful, especially in depicting the fresh beauty of Jiangnan scenery and the leisurely life of the literati. 'Feng Qi Wu · Lanxi' is a representative example of his landscape leisure lyrics, combining boating, poetry, wine, spring scenery, and the impulse to seek out a hidden dwelling.