Tang Dynasty
寒食
韩翃
春城无处不飞花，
寒食东风御柳斜。
日暮汉宫传蜡烛，
轻烟散入五侯家。
Translation
In the spring city, falling blossoms drift everywhere. On the Cold Food Festival, an east wind bends the willows of the imperial gardens. At dusk, candles are passed out from the Han palace; thin smoke trails into the mansions of the favored nobles.
Analysis
Han Hong’s “Cold Food Festival” appears at first to be a graceful spring poem, but its restraint gives the poem a quiet political edge. The opening couplet expands across the capital: blossoms are everywhere, and the imperial willows lean in the east wind. The scene is bright, soft, and almost festive. Yet the second couplet shifts from landscape to power. On a day traditionally associated with the prohibition of fire, candles are nevertheless sent from the palace to the houses of favored nobles. The poem never openly condemns this privilege. Instead, the thin smoke entering the mansions becomes the whole argument. Its elegance lies in understatement: the more delicate the spring scene, the sharper the social contrast becomes.
About the Author
Han Hong was a Tang dynasty poet and one of the so-called “Ten Talents of the Dali era.” His courtesy name was Junping, and he was known for poems of parting, travel, court life, and contemporary affairs. His style is refined and restrained, often placing social feeling within elegant scenery. “Cold Food Festival” is his best-known poem. Its combination of spring beauty and understated political irony made it one of the memorable quatrains of the Tang tradition.