Walking with Incense (Crickets Sing among the Grass) - Li Qingzhao
/行香子(草际鸣蛩) - 李清照/
Where Autumn Twilight and Hidden Longing Converge
【A Representative Reconstruction in Li Qingzhao’s Style】
行香子(草际鸣蛩)
草际鸣蛩，露冷凝阶，
萤火微摇，月影萧斜。
远树声疏，闲门初闭，
听西风，敲竹寞，叹年华。
小立兰舟，依稀旧约，
终日凝眸，谁识离涯？
空忆双鸳，犹怜并影，
恨荒台，难再见，梦中花。
【Literal English Translation (Line by Line)】
Crickets sing among the grass, dew chills the steps;
Fireflies flicker faintly, the moon’s glow leans askew.
In distant trees, sparse sounds echo as the gate quietly latches;
I hear the west wind knock against bamboo—sighing over fleeting youth.
I pause by the orchid boat, a vague memory of old promises;
I gaze all day—who could fathom the edge of my longing?
I recall a pair of mandarin ducks, once side by side in perfect harmony;
Alas, a deserted terrace: they are seen no more, except in dreamlike blossoms.
行香子(草际鸣蛩)
草际鸣蛩，露冷凝阶，
萤火微摇，月影萧斜。
远树声疏，闲门初闭，
听西风，敲竹寞，叹年华。
小立兰舟，依稀旧约，
终日凝眸，谁识离涯？
空忆双鸳，犹怜并影，
恨荒台，难再见，梦中花。
【Literal English Translation (Line by Line)】
Crickets sing among the grass, dew chills the steps;
Fireflies flicker faintly, the moon’s glow leans askew.
In distant trees, sparse sounds echo as the gate quietly latches;
I hear the west wind knock against bamboo—sighing over fleeting youth.
I pause by the orchid boat, a vague memory of old promises;
I gaze all day—who could fathom the edge of my longing?
I recall a pair of mandarin ducks, once side by side in perfect harmony;
Alas, a deserted terrace: they are seen no more, except in dreamlike blossoms.
While various anthologies contain Li Qingzhao’s best-known ci—such as “Sheng Sheng Man” or “Yi Jian Mei”—a poem titled “Walking with Incense (Crickets Sing among the Grass)” does not appear in the established historical record. The verses presented here are a **reconstructed homage**, reflecting Li Qingzhao’s distinctive style of mingling delicate natural imagery with personal longing.
In this imagined piece, autumn nights frame the poet’s solitude: crickets chirp in the grass, dew settles on cold steps, and gentle moonlight skews across the scene. Such details underscore Li Qingzhao’s hallmark approach—she often uses quiet, unhurried imagery to evoke an intimate emotional landscape.
**Key Elements**
1. **Natural Echoes**: Crickets, dew, and moonlight create a scene where even small shifts (a flicker of fireflies, a hint of breeze) assume a profound emotional resonance.
2. **Reverberating Memories**: References to “old promises” and “dreamlike blossoms” mirror Li Qingzhao’s well-known focus on separation or irretrievable moments. The poet stands on the threshold of memory—an “orchid boat” hints at journeys that never fully conclude.
3. **Emblems of Attachment**: The fleeting image of mandarin ducks (a common symbol of harmonious love) heightens the sense of loss—once inseparable, now absent.
4. **Tone of Quiet Longing**: Each line circles back to intangible yearnings. The poet wants to articulate sorrow or find solace, but the hush of the night (broken only by crickets, wind, or soft lamplight) leaves her in a suspended reflection.
This synthesis of **spare description and vivid emotional undercurrent** exemplifies Li Qingzhao’s aesthetic. The poem resonates not through sweeping declarations but through meticulously chosen details—dew on the steps, faint wind on bamboo, a single latch closing for the night—reminders of how small moments often mirror the human heart’s deeper currents.
While the poem is a tribute rather than an authenticated historical piece, it captures the essence of Li Qingzhao’s **late Song** sensibility: introspection that intertwines with seasonal cues, conveying the poet’s unwavering pursuit of grace and meaning amid the fading warmth of autumn.
Key points
• Emphasizes Li Qingzhao’s typical blend of autumnal stillness and personal longing.
• Uses subtle nature details (crickets, fireflies, bamboo tapping) to evoke inward solitude.
• Imagines a lost past (mandarin ducks, old promises) that the poet revisits in memory.
• Demonstrates ci poetry’s capacity to marry graceful structure with quietly potent emotion.