Yuan Dynasty
喜春来
商衟
清香引客眠花市，
艳色迷人殢酒卮。
东风舞困瘦腰肢。
犹未止，
零落暮春时。
Translation
A clear fragrance draws the guest to sleep amid the flower market; brilliant colors bewitch the heart and hold it beside the wine cup. In the east wind, the flowers dance until their slender waists grow tired. Yet the dance has not stopped, and still they scatter and fall in late spring.
Analysis
This short song presents the beauty of flowers in late spring. It is sensuous and elegant, filled with fragrance, color, wine, wind, and movement. Yet beneath the pleasure lies the awareness that spring is already passing. The first two lines show the seductive power of flowers. Their fragrance draws people in; their color intoxicates them like wine. The flower scene is not merely something to look at. It is something that surrounds, overwhelms, and delays the visitor. The third line personifies the flowers. In the east wind, their branches seem to dance like slender-waisted women. But the word "tired" changes the mood. The beauty is no longer fresh and effortless; it is close to exhaustion. The final two lines give the poem its deeper feeling. The dance is still going on, but the flowers are already falling. This is a precise image of transience: beauty does not vanish only after the festival ends; it begins to decline while it is still beautiful. The piece has the vivid, sensuous quality typical of Yuan qu. It could be read as a flower poem, but also as a song about pleasure, youth, and the inevitable arrival of decline.
About the Author
Shang Dao, courtesy name Zhengshu, was a Yuan dynasty writer of sanqu from Jiyin in Caozhou. He came from a prominent family and was known for a bold, romantic, and free-spirited personality. He was skilled in songs and also in painting. Yuan Haowen had a close relationship with him and wrote about his travels and hardships. The Ming critic Zhu Quan described his songs as "like morning clouds scattering color," suggesting a bright, ornate, and flowing style. Though few of his works survive, they show a vivid blend of sensuality, playfulness, and melancholy.