Spring Equinox

The rain has cleared, and it is the season of the Spring Equinox. A thousand flowers and a hundred kinds of blossoms compete in brightness. Beneath painted rafters, newly arrived swallows fly in pairs, while a parrot in a jade cage sleeps alone in sorrow. Creeping fig vines cling to the wall, and moss covers the ground. From several pleasure houses come clear and beautiful songs. Suddenly, old memories rise in her heart; she says nothing, only draws her brows together, dark and green like distant mountains.

Set against the Spring Equinox, this lyric writes scenery in the first stanza and emotion in the second, using joyful scenery to heighten sorrow. The opening “雨霁风光，春分天气” establishes both the season and the weather, while the single character “争” in “千花百卉争明媚” conveys the splendor of countless flowers competing in bloom. This is immediately followed by a contrast between new swallows flying in pairs and the parrot sleeping alone. The swallows’ freedom and companionship throw the parrot’s confinement and solitude into relief, while also implying the loneliness of the lyric’s central figure. In the second stanza, “薜荔依墙，莓苔满地” writes the stillness and coolness of the courtyard, while “青楼几处歌声丽” uses the joy of others to heighten her isolation. The closing “蓦然旧事上心来，无言敛皱眉山翠” compares her tightly drawn brows to dark green mountain ridges; countless emotions gather into silence, restrained and suggestive, with a lingering resonance.