Yuan Dynasty
平湖乐 · 采菱人语隔秋烟
王恽
采菱人语隔秋烟，
波静如横练。
入手风光莫流转，
共留连，
画船一笑春风面。
江山信美，
终非吾土，
问何日是归年？
Translation
Through autumn mist come the voices of people gathering water chestnuts; the still waves lie flat like white silk. Let this scenery now in hand not drift away; let us linger together, as a painted boat passes and a woman smiles with a spring-wind face. The rivers and mountains are indeed beautiful, yet in the end, this is not my homeland. What year, what day, will be the time of return?
Analysis
This "Pinghu Tune" begins as a beautiful lake scene and ends as a poem of homesickness. Its emotional power comes from the contrast between the loveliness of the place and the speaker's awareness that it is not home. The opening line is rich in sound and atmosphere. The voices of people gathering water chestnuts come through autumn mist. The word "through" creates distance: the people are not fully visible, but their voices drift across the lake. "The waves are still like white silk" gives the scene clarity and calm. The lake is smooth, pale, and spread out like a bolt of silk. The first two lines balance motion and stillness: human voices move through mist, while the lake remains quiet and flat. "Let this scenery now in hand not drift away" expresses the desire to hold the moment. The scenery feels almost graspable, yet it is already subject to time. The speaker wants to linger. The painted boat and the woman's spring-like smile bring warmth and human beauty into the autumn landscape. Even though the season is autumn, her smile is compared to spring wind, making the moment more vivid and tender. The final three lines transform the poem. "The rivers and mountains are indeed beautiful, yet this is not my homeland" echoes a classical theme from Wang Can's "Rhapsody on Climbing the Tower." No matter how beautiful a foreign place may be, it cannot replace home. The song is therefore not merely scenic. It captures a traveler's contradiction: the place is beautiful enough to make one stay, but precisely that beauty sharpens the longing to return.
About the Author
Wang Yun, courtesy name Zhongmou and literary name Qiujian, was a Yuan dynasty writer and statesman from Jixian in Weizhou. He served during the reigns of Kublai Khan and later Yuan rulers, holding posts such as Hanlin compiler, censor, and Hanlin academician. Known for upright character, administrative diligence, and literary learning, he authored Qiujian Xiansheng Daquan Wenji. Wang Yun wrote poetry, prose, ci, and sanqu, and was an important literati sanqu writer of the early Yuan. His songs combine refined literary sensibility with the natural speech rhythm of Yuan song, often blending clear scenery with historical feeling, travel emotion, and personal reflection.