Song Dynasty
醉太平·闺情
刘过
情高意真，眉长鬓青。
小楼明月调筝，写春风数声。
思君忆君，魂牵梦萦。
翠绡香暖银屏，更那堪酒醒。
Translation
Her feeling is noble, her heart sincere; her brows are long, her temples dark and young. In a small tower, beneath the bright moon, she tunes the zither, letting a few notes write the breath of spring. She thinks of him, remembers him; her soul is bound to him, her dreams are filled with him. The green silk is fragrant, the silver screen warm, yet how can she bear the moment when the wine wears off?
Analysis
"Drunk in Peace · Boudoir Longing" is a short boudoir lyric, yet its emotional layers are remarkably complete. The first stanza portrays the woman, then the scene and sound. "Her feeling is noble, her heart sincere; her brows are long, her temples dark and young" — in just eight characters, it captures both her appearance and her inner world. She is not merely a beautiful figure to be observed; she is a person with genuine feeling and private thoughts. "In a small tower, beneath the bright moon, she tunes the zither" narrows the scene to a quiet, cool, intimate night. "Letting a few notes write the breath of spring" is especially fine — it turns hearing into vision, as if a few zither notes could trace the softness of spring wind. The second stanza moves from restraint to directness. "She thinks of him, remembers him; her soul is bound to him, her dreams are filled with him" uses four emotional verbs in succession. The tone is simple, yet it has a circling, repetitive quality — not a dramatic outcry, but a mind returning again and again to the same thought, unable to break free. The closing line — "The green silk is fragrant, the silver screen warm, yet how can she bear the moment when the wine wears off?" — is the most suggestive in the poem. The green silk, the lingering warmth, the silver screen — all are soft, intimate boudoir objects. But after the wine wears off, they no longer bring comfort. Instead, they emphasize the empty room, the solitary shadow, and the starkness of waking. The poem never uses the word "sorrow," yet sorrow emerges naturally from the scene. The language is plain, the rhythm gentle, the emotion restrained yet lingering. Its beauty lies in being "short without being thin": only moon, zither, screen, and waking from wine — yet it captures the most unbearable moment of longing.
About the Author
Liu Guo was a Southern Song ci poet, courtesy name Gaizhi, also known as the Daoist of Longzhou. His lyric poetry ranges from heroic and impassioned to tender and deeply felt. "Drunk in Peace · Boudoir Longing" departs from his more expansive style, using a compact form to convey delicate longing with plain language and lingering emotional resonance.