Changgan Song (Part I) - Li Bai
/长干行(其一) - 李白/
Memories of Innocent Childhood and Timeless Affection
妾发初覆额，
When my hair first covered my forehead,
折花门前剧。
I picked flowers outside the gate, carefree and light.
郎骑竹马来，
You came riding a bamboo horse,
绕床弄青梅。
Circling around, playing with green plums in hand.
同居长干里，
We grew up together in Changgan Lane,
两小无嫌猜。
Two young hearts, with no doubts or mistrust.
In this short but evocative poem, Li Bai captures a youthful memory of two children growing up side by side in Changgan. The speaker fondly recalls a time when she was just old enough for her hair to brush across her forehead—an image symbolizing innocence and the threshold of awareness. She describes playful scenes, picking flowers without a care and watching the young boy ride around on a makeshift bamboo horse.
Playing with green plums is a poetic image often evoking the simplicity of youth, the curiosity of exploration, and the blossoming of future possibilities. The poem subtly charts a transition from carefree friendship to the beginnings of deeper feelings. While the lines are straightforward, they also hint at a future bond between the two children that grows out of their shared past.
Li Bai’s masterful use of vivid imagery, along with his concise yet emotive language, showcases how precious these small fragments of memory can be. The poem’s brevity captures a timeless scene: two children unaware of the complexities that life may eventually bring. Through this nostalgic lens, Li Bai invites readers to remember their own childhood days, when trust and companionship formed freely, and worries about the future were nonexistent. By highlighting the wonder and purity of early friendship, Li Bai underscores how such innocent bonds shape us and linger in our hearts forever.
Key points
• Childhood innocence embodies trust, curiosity, and carefree joy.
• Simple, everyday imagery can evoke deeply nostalgic emotions.
• Shared youthful experiences often form the basis of lifelong connections.
• Reflecting on one’s past can inspire gratitude for life’s early joys.
