Yuan Dynasty
阳春曲·题情
白朴
从来好事天生俭，
自古瓜儿苦后甜。
奶娘催逼紧拘钳，
甚是严。
越间阻越情忺。
Translation
Good things, by nature, have always been hard to obtain; melons, since olden times, are bitter before they turn sweet. The nurse presses and restrains them, keeping a strict watch. Yet the more they are obstructed, the stronger their desire grows.
Analysis
The lyric is built on a simple but effective emotional logic: obstruction intensifies desire. The first two lines sound proverbial, using the bitterness and later sweetness of a melon to explain the difficulty of love. The figure of the strict nurse places the poem in a theatrical domestic setting, where young love is watched and disciplined. Bai Pu does not turn the situation into pure sorrow. Instead, he catches the liveliness of desire under pressure. The final line is colloquial and vivid: the more love is blocked, the more eager it becomes.