Song Dynasty
青玉案·凌波不过横塘路
贺铸
凌波不过横塘路。但目送、芳尘去。
锦瑟华年谁与度？
月桥花院，琐窗朱户，只有春知处。
飞云冉冉蘅皋暮。彩笔新题断肠句。
试问闲情都几许？
一川烟草，满城风絮，梅子黄时雨。
Translation
Her light, graceful steps never reached the road by Hengtang. I could only watch from afar as she departed, even the fragrant dust she left behind fading away. With whom will she spend those bright, harp-like years of youth? The moonlit bridges, the flowered courtyards, the carved windows and vermilion doors — only spring knows where she truly is. At dusk, drifting clouds pass slowly over the fragrant marsh. I take up my colored brush and write again these heartbroken lines. If you ask how deep this idle sorrow is: it is like misty grass stretching across the riverbank, willow catkins filling the whole city, and the endless rain of the season when plums turn yellow.
Analysis
This lyric is built around absence. The woman never arrives at Hengtang Road; the poet receives only distance, longing, and the fading trace of her departure. The opening line turns a failed encounter into a vision of beauty that is already slipping away. The first stanza moves from sight to imagination. "Moonlit bridges," "flowered courtyards," and "vermilion doors" suggest a secluded world the poet cannot enter. Her life, her youth, and her feelings remain hidden; only spring is imagined as knowing them. The final three images are among the most celebrated in Song lyrics: misty grass by the river, windblown catkins across the city, and the rain of yellow-plum season. Together they transform sorrow into landscape. The feeling is not merely personal; it spreads outward, filling the whole world with soft, persistent grief.
About the Author
He Zhu, courtesy name Fanghui, was a poet of the Northern Song dynasty. Known for his upright temperament and uneven official career, he became highly respected for his lyric poetry. His work combines emotional delicacy with a strong, sometimes rugged spirit. "Green Jade Case · Her Light Steps Never Reached Hengtang Road" is one of his best-known works, especially admired for its closing image of "rain when the plums turn yellow." Because of this line, later readers often called him "He Meizi," or "He of the Yellow-Plum Rain."