Song Dynasty
满庭芳·山抹微云
秦观
山抹微云，天连衰草，画角声断谯门。
暂停征棹，聊共引离尊。
多少蓬莱旧事，空回首、烟霭纷纷。
斜阳外，寒鸦万点，流水绕孤村。
销魂。
当此际，香囊暗解，罗带轻分。
谩赢得、青楼薄幸名存。
此去何时见也？襟袖上、空惹啼痕。
伤情处，高城望断，灯火已黄昏。
Translation
A faint veil of cloud brushes the hills; the sky meets the withered grass, and the painted horn fades from the watchtower gate. The departing oars are paused for a while, so we may share one last cup of farewell wine. How many old memories, once bright as a fairy isle, remain only in vain recollection, lost among drifting mist. Beyond the slanting sun, countless cold crows gather; flowing water winds around a lonely village. It breaks the soul. At such a moment, the scented pouch is quietly untied, the silk sash gently parted. What remains, perhaps, is only the name of a faithless lover among the singing houses. After this departure, when shall we meet again? On robe and sleeve, tears are left in vain. Where sorrow cuts deepest: from the high city wall I gaze until sight fails, and the lamps have already lit the dusk.
Analysis
This lyric writes farewell, but not as a simple parting between lovers. Instead, it places the sorrow of separation within a vast, desolate twilight landscape. The opening, 'A faint veil of cloud brushes the hills; the sky meets the withered grass,' is intensely visual. The single word 'brushes' (mo) makes the distant hills, thin clouds, and dusk light feel both delicate and vast, setting a melancholic tone from the start. The first stanza focuses on parting scenes: the painted horn, the watchtower gate, the paused oars, the farewell cup. 'Old memories bright as a fairy isle' makes past happiness feel impossibly distant—the more beautiful the memory, the more irretrievable the loss. 'Beyond the slanting sun, countless cold crows gather; flowing water winds around a lonely village' is one of the most celebrated couplets in Song ci, expanding private grief into a cosmic loneliness. The second stanza turns to the human figures. 'The scented pouch quietly untied, the silk sash gently parted' is understated yet telling: intimacy, attachment, and reluctance are all compressed into these small gestures. 'After this departure, when shall we meet again?' is direct but not shallow—by this point, the scenes and emotions have been so fully built that the question feels like a natural release of accumulated feeling. 'From the high city wall I gaze until sight fails, and the lamps have already lit the dusk' closes the poem on a note of unreachable distance. Qin Guan's genius lies in this tender yet profound melancholy: his language is never harsh, but the feeling runs deep; the scenery is crystalline, but the sorrow within is endless and lingering.
About the Author
Qin Guan, courtesy name Shaoyou, also known as Taixu and Haohai Jushi, was a Northern Song lyricist from Gaoyou, Yangzhou. He was one of the 'Four Scholars of Su Shi's School' and was greatly appreciated by Su Shi, yet his style diverged from Su's heroic breadth toward a more delicate, lucid, and deeply tender mode. Qin Guan's official career was fraught with hardship and repeated exile, which imbued his lyrics with a pervasive sense of wandering, parting, disappointment, and life's transience. His language is exquisite and his emotions finely wrought; he is especially renowned for his portrayal of parting sorrow and is regarded as a quintessential master of the delicate (wanyue) style. His masterpieces include 'Immortal at the Magpie Bridge · Fleecy Clouds Skillfully Change,' 'Courtyard Full of Fragrance · A Veil of Cloud Brushes the Hills,' and 'Treading on Grass · Chenzhou Inn.'