Song Dynasty
浣溪沙·二月和风到碧城
晏几道
二月和风到碧城，
万条千缕绿相迎。
舞烟眠雨过清明。
妆镜巧眉偷叶样，
歌楼妍曲借枝名。
晚秋霜霰莫无情。
Translation
The gentle wind of the second month reaches the jade-green city; countless willow strands, newly green, seem to welcome the spring. They dance in mist, sleep in rain, and quietly pass through the season of Qingming. Before the dressing mirror, delicate brows seem to borrow the shape of willow leaves; in the singing towers, graceful melodies take their names from willow branches. Yet when late autumn brings frost and sleet, may it not treat these tender branches too harshly.
Analysis
This lyric appears to be about willow branches, but its emotional range is wider: it evokes spring, feminine beauty, refined urban life, and the fragility of beauty before time. The first stanza opens with a soft spring wind and the fresh green of countless willow strands. The line "dance in mist, sleep in rain" gives the willow a living, graceful presence. The scene is not merely decorative; it carries the languid tenderness of early spring. The second stanza shifts from nature to human life. Willow leaves become the model for a woman's painted brows, and willow branches lend their name to songs in elegant towers. The willow thus moves from landscape into beauty, music, and culture. The final line turns suddenly toward late autumn frost, creating a poignant contrast. The poem's tenderness comes from this awareness: what is lovely in spring is also vulnerable to time. The lyric is refined, delicate, and quietly melancholic, showing Yan Jidao's characteristic ability to place deep feeling inside elegant imagery.
About the Author
Yan Jidao, courtesy name Shuyuan, was a Northern Song dynasty lyric poet and the son of Yan Shu. Together, they are often known as the "Two Yans." Yan Jidao is especially celebrated for short lyric forms that explore love, separation, memory, and the sadness of passing time. His style is graceful, intimate, and emotionally subtle, making him one of the major figures of the Wanyue, or graceful and restrained, tradition in Song lyrics.