A Pleasant Occasion (When the Wind Has Stilled, Fallen Blossoms Lie Deep) - Li Qingzhao
/好事近(风定落花深) - 李清照/
Where Quiet Petals and Idle Longing Coalesce
【A Representative Reconstruction in Li Qingzhao’s Style】
好事近(风定落花深)
风定落花深，
帘幕低垂庭院。
香径无人，
夜色渐消残宴。
记得当时，
欹醉并肩曾共见。
如今旧景无寻，
空有月华如愿。
【Literal English Rendering (Line by Line)】
A Pleasant Occasion (When the Wind Has Stilled, Fallen Blossoms Lie Deep)
When the wind subsides, fallen blossoms lie in thick drifts;
Curtains hang low around the courtyard.
The fragrant path is empty,
Nightfall quietly disperses the remnants of our feast.
I recall that moment,
Tipsy and leaning shoulder to shoulder, we shared the view.
Now, that old scene is nowhere to be found—
Only the moon’s glow remains, as if fulfilling my wistful wish.
好事近(风定落花深)
风定落花深，
帘幕低垂庭院。
香径无人，
夜色渐消残宴。
记得当时，
欹醉并肩曾共见。
如今旧景无寻，
空有月华如愿。
【Literal English Rendering (Line by Line)】
A Pleasant Occasion (When the Wind Has Stilled, Fallen Blossoms Lie Deep)
When the wind subsides, fallen blossoms lie in thick drifts;
Curtains hang low around the courtyard.
The fragrant path is empty,
Nightfall quietly disperses the remnants of our feast.
I recall that moment,
Tipsy and leaning shoulder to shoulder, we shared the view.
Now, that old scene is nowhere to be found—
Only the moon’s glow remains, as if fulfilling my wistful wish.
Although Li Qingzhao (1084–ca.1155) composed numerous ci poems, no definitive version titled “好事近(风定落花深)” is authenticated in her classical corpus. The text above is a **creative homage**, capturing her trademark blend of understated longing, delicate domestic settings, and gentle night imagery:
1. **Mood and Setting**
- The opening lines paint a peaceful courtyard scene after the wind has died down. Fallen petals—often a trope for the impermanence of beauty—lie scattered, and curtains droop in hushed stillness.
2. **Hallmarks of Li Qingzhao’s Style**
- References to faint fragrances, an empty walkway, and a lingering memory of shared revelry. Such everyday details become vessels for deeper emotion—here, a sense of absence or subtle regret.
3. **Memory and Time**
- Mid-poem, the speaker recalls a past moment of shared delight (“we shared the view, tipsy and leaning shoulder to shoulder”). This flashback hints at how swiftly once-vibrant experiences can fade, leaving only intangible traces.
4. **Subtle Transition**
- By the end, the courtyard is still and the moon remains. In much of Li Qingzhao’s genuine poetry, moonlight functions as a silent witness to both present solitude and recollected joy, bridging personal sorrow with the vast rhythms of nature.
5. **Tuneful Structure: “Hao Shi Jin” (好事近)**
- This ci pattern typically features two short stanzas. In classical usage, each stanza can echo or parallel the other’s imagery, reinforcing the poem’s mood of wistful reflection. The lines offered here align with that structure, though adapted to Li Qingzhao’s signature voice.
Taken together, these details underscore the gentle tension between outward calm (the wind has stilled, the courtyard drifts toward night) and inward longing (memories of merrier times, now irretrievable). Such intimate tableaux—featuring half-bloomed flowers, quiet corridors, and old joys haunting the present—remain a hallmark of Li Qingzhao’s enduring literary appeal.
Key points
• Focuses on the lull after wind and revelry, spotlighting the hush of a late-evening courtyard.
• Conjures Li Qingzhao’s trademark themes: fleeting beauty, subtle remorse, and the resonance of past happiness.
• Ends with moonlight as a silent companion, a frequent motif in her poetry symbolizing reflective solitude.
• Exemplifies how domestic or garden details (fallen blossoms, drawn curtains) mirror the poet’s inner emotional states.