Wisps of smoke from coiled incense are thicker than mist, as though weaving green shade and a red rain of fallen blossoms. A little swallow flies toward the lotus-patterned curtain; willow catkins seem about to turn to snow, pear blossoms drift like clouds into dreams, and once again dusk falls at Qingming.

Screen-like mountains block the path of longing; the cuckoo calls until its voice dies away. The fish and geese that carry letters are also bewildered and lost; to whom can I speak? Such a lovely east wind, such a full and beautiful moon, all spoiled by the pursuit of a marquis's title and worldly fame.

香篆: incense coiled like seal-script characters, also referring to its curling smoke. 红雨: falling flower petals. 乳燕: young swallows. 莲幕: curtains decorated with lotus patterns.

梨云: clouds used as a comparison for white pear blossoms. 屏山: mountains shaped like a screen, also suggestive of a painted screen, expressing obstruction. 子规: the cuckoo.

鳞瞑羽迷: Fish and wild geese are imagined as messengers, conveying the interruption of news; 瞑 means closing the eyes in a daze, and 迷 means losing one's way. 好段、好轮: Expressions praising the beauty of the breeze and moon.

封侯: Gaining a noble title through achievement, standing here for the pursuit of rank and renown. The lyric speaks in the voice of a woman in her chamber; this does not mean the author personally had an experience of being ennobled.

Reading guide: Gao E writes of longing through the theme of a secluded woman's sorrow in late spring around Qingming. Flowers and trees flourish, and wind and moonlight are lovely, yet they cannot bring happiness to the one who waits; the ending traces the sorrow of separation to the conflict between worldly achievement and reunion.

The upper stanza’s incense smoke, green shade, red rain of petals, willow catkins, and clouds of pear blossom all have a hazy, drifting quality. The richer the scenery becomes, the less the troubled heart can find a resting place. The swallows’ ability to return also underscores the absence of news from the person far away.

The second stanza deepens the sense of separation through successive images of the mountain-patterned screen, cuckoos, and fish and geese that have lost their way. The repeated “好” (fine) at the end expresses regret at fine moonlight and breezes wasted, rather than sudden delight; “误” (to squander or miss) concentrates the entire lyric's quiet resentment.