Tang Dynasty
Spring Snow
Han Yu
新年都未有芳华，二月初惊见草芽。
白雪却嫌春色晚，故穿庭树作飞花。
Translation
The new year has arrived, yet there is still no floral beauty at all. Only in the second month am I surprised to see the first grass shoots. The white snow seems to dislike how late the spring colors are, so it deliberately passes through the courtyard trees and turns itself into flying blossoms.
Analysis
This poem describes a spring snowfall at a time when real flowers have not yet appeared. Han Yu does not treat the snow as a cold remnant of winter. Instead, he imagines it as something that helps spring arrive. The first two lines establish the delay of spring. The new year has come, but there is still no 'fragrant beauty' of flowers and plants. Only in the second month does the poet suddenly notice grass shoots. The phrase 'am surprised' is important: after waiting for spring, even the smallest sign of green feels fresh and unexpected. The last two lines transform the whole scene through personification. The snow seems to resent the lateness of spring, so it passes through the courtyard trees and becomes flying flowers. The snow is no longer passive weather. It becomes playful, intentional, almost impatient for spring. The phrase 'flying blossoms' is the key. The trees have not yet flowered, but when snow moves through their branches, the courtyard looks as though it is full of white petals. Han Yu turns the absence of flowers into another kind of flowering. The poem's charm lies in this inversion. Spring is late, but the poem is not gloomy. Snow falls, but the feeling is not wintry. By giving snow a lively will, Han Yu makes early spring feel playful, surprising, and full of possibility.
About the Author
Han Yu, courtesy name Tuizhi, was a major Tang dynasty writer, thinker, and poet from Heyang, with ancestral associations to Changli; he is often called Han Changli. He is traditionally ranked first among the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song and was a central advocate of the Classical Prose Movement, opposing ornate parallel prose and promoting the prose ideals of the pre-Qin and Han traditions. His poetry is known for force, unusual imagination, rugged diction, and intellectual energy, though he could also write short, fresh, and lively poems like 'Spring Snow.'