Deep in the Night / Cold Food Festival Night
Tang dynasty・Han Wo
古风抒情
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A piercing light chill, a cutting breeze; small plum blossoms drift like snow, and apricot flowers glow red.
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- 无事小狗仙
- 2025-03-27 21:05
- 60 reads
A tender chill bites, the wind cuts keenly; little plum blossoms drift like snow, and apricot flowers glow red.
Late at night, the swing ropes hang askew; towers and pavilions blur in misty rain.
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Translation
A slight chill seeps in, and a delicate breeze blows. Petals falling from the little plum tree resemble snow, while apricot blossoms are opening a vivid red. The night is deep; the swing's ropes hang aslant, and the pavilion is veiled in hazy mist and rain.
Annotations
恻恻: cold that penetrates the skin and brings a slight feeling of melancholy. 翦翦: a light, delicate wind. 小梅飘雪: falling plum petals compared to drifting snow.
寒食: the Cold Food Festival, a traditional festival around Qingming. Swings are associated with the season’s recreational customs. 索: ropes. 斜搭: describes a swing hanging askew, idle and unused.
This poem has two titles: 《夜深》, “Deep in the Night,” and 《寒食夜》, “Night of the Cold Food Festival.”
Introduction
Reading guide: In twenty-eight characters, Han Wo depicts a late-night spring scene around the Cold Food Festival. Flowers, wind, a swing, and towers are all visible details of everyday life, yet no person appears directly; the unused objects suggest that human activity has ceased.
Commentary
The first two lines combine touch and color: the slight chill is not harsh, while white plum blossoms and red apricot blossoms remain bright. The last two lines quiet a place where lively activity might occur, making the swing's slanting ropes the crucial detail.
Misty rain conceals the towers, leaving the scene without clear boundaries. The poem never directly speaks of sorrow, yet a trace of melancholy emerges from the stillness of late night and the sense that spring is drawing to a close.
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Chinese originalListen to music · Read lyrics →From a poem into a story
Fiction inspired by poetry
Apricot Blossoms Ask of Your Return
The Wu residence has stood empty for seven years, yet every Cold Food Festival, its swing ropes creak deep into the night. A Liao takes a well-paid job guarding the gate. Following the sound, she meets Xing’er, an apricot-blossom seller who refuses to believe her mother left of her own accord all those years ago. A lead weight on an old skirt leads the two girls back to a long-ago funeral. Just then, the owner’s daughter, who married far away, pushes open the door.
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