Song Dynasty
苏幕遮·燎沉香
周邦彦
燎沉香，消溽暑。
鸟雀呼晴，侵晓窥檐语。
叶上初阳干宿雨，
水面清圆，一一风荷举。
故乡遥，何日去？
家住吴门，久作长安旅。
五月渔郎相忆否？
小楫轻舟，梦入芙蓉浦。
Translation
Burning aloeswood incense, I drive away the damp summer heat. Birds and sparrows call out to the clear morning; before dawn has fully opened, they peer beneath the eaves and chatter. On the lotus leaves, the first sunlight dries last night's rain. Across the water, the round leaves are fresh and bright; one by one, the wind lifts the lotus stems upright. My homeland is far away. When shall I return? My home is in Wumen, yet I have long been a traveler in Chang'an. In the fifth month, do the fishermen there still remember me? With a small oar and a light boat, I enter in dream the inlet of blooming lotus.
Analysis
This lyric begins with a summer morning scene and gradually turns toward homesickness. The opening is intimate and sensory: incense, humid heat, birdsong, dawn, and eaves. Then the vision widens to the lotus pond, where morning light dries the rain and the lotus leaves rise cleanly in the wind. The celebrated line "Across the water, the round leaves are fresh and bright; one by one, the wind lifts the lotus stems upright" captures not only visual clarity but also movement. The lotus is not static; it seems to awaken with the morning. The emotional turn is quiet but powerful. The beauty of the scene does not erase the poet's loneliness; instead, it deepens it. His home lies in the south, while he remains far away in Chang'an. The final image of a light boat entering a lotus-filled shore in dream transforms longing into a delicate vision of return.
About the Author
Zhou Bangyan was a major lyric poet of the Northern Song dynasty. His courtesy name was Meicheng, and he was also known as Qingzhen Jushi. He is renowned for his mastery of musical patterns, refined diction, and highly structured lyric composition, known as the "crown of ci poets." His works had a lasting influence on the development of Song ci poetry. "Su Mu Zhe · Burning Aloeswood Incense" is one of his best-known poems, combining lucid summer imagery with restrained homesickness.