一剪梅(中夜起看) - 李清照
A Twig of Mume (Rising at Midnight to Gaze) - Li Qingzhao
Where Midnight’s Quiet and a Waning Moon Converge
【A Representative Reconstruction in Li Qingzhao’s Style】
一剪梅(中夜起看)
中夜起看，
漏永更残，
帘影疏疏月一湾。
书卷闲抛，
檠灯暗炷，
泪眼终疑旧梦还。
谁料银屏对影，
曾是同欢，
自别离、人去也难攀。
最是忍听风絮，
萧萧渐起，
吹过谁家翠幕寒。
一剪梅(中夜起看)
中夜起看，
漏永更残，
帘影疏疏月一湾。
书卷闲抛，
檠灯暗炷，
泪眼终疑旧梦还。
谁料银屏对影，
曾是同欢，
自别离、人去也难攀。
最是忍听风絮，
萧萧渐起，
吹过谁家翠幕寒。
Although Li Qingzhao did write multiple poems to the tune “Yi Jian Mei” (一剪梅), there is no confirmed historical piece titled “一剪梅(中夜起看).” The text above is a **creative homage** imitating her style of gentle imagery, nocturnal introspection, and unobtrusive yet poignant longing.
1. **Midnight Vigil**
- The opening lines describe the speaker waking in the middle of the night to a softly lit, half-deserted chamber. Classical Chinese poetry often amplifies emotions through late-night stillness: the hush allows each creak and flicker of lamplight to resonate with the poet’s inner state.
2. **Subtle Domestic Details**
- References to a half-read book (“书卷闲抛”) and a dimmed lantern (“檠灯暗炷”) paint a picture of a private, contemplative space. Li Qingzhao’s work frequently uses such small household elements to evoke deeper sentiments—here, they underscore both distraction and a longing that outlasts routine comforts.
3. **Memories and Separation**
- The middle lines hint at a once-shared moment before a “silver screen”—a cinematic expression of cherished closeness. “人去也难攀” (the person departed, difficult to catch up with) underscores that the beloved is gone, leaving the poet suspended between recollections and the inevitability of ongoing life.
4. **Soft Yet Haunting Soundscape**
- In the final lines, a mild wind rises like drifting catkins (“风絮”)—a gentle but unmistakable sign that the night’s chill seeps even deeper. Such subtle sonic cues (whispers of wind, the hush of distant curtains) mirror the poet’s sense of solitary reflection.
All these elements combine to convey Li Qingzhao’s signature blend of **exquisite restraint** and **emotional depth**. In place of overt wailing, the poem offers layered, night-bound imagery—a lamp’s glow, a moon’s faint curve, a half-finished book—to conjure the quiet heartache of separation. The final note is not despair but a subdued acceptance: that longing may endure, as gentle and insistent as the night breeze.
Key points
• Illustrates Li Qingzhao’s hallmark technique: using domestic, nocturnal details to embody her speaker’s solitude.
• Balances minimal action (light reading, lamp tending) with internal turbulence (tears, recollections).
• Employs a subdued sonic environment (rustling wind, silent chamber) to underscore unspoken yearning.
• Concludes with a lingering sense of separation—another hallmark of Li Qingzhao’s ci style, where resolution remains poignantly elusive.
Comments
Cyber DreamCompared to Li Qingzhao’s ‘声声慢(寻寻觅觅),’ which lingers on drifting sorrow by day, here illusions overshadow heartbreak in an intimate nocturnal hush. Both revolve around parted hopes, yet this poem intensifies the hush by staging heartbreak in midnight’s tranquil gloom rather than daylight’s half-lament.
Calm Gray Owl NestCompared again with Li Qingzhao’s comedic heartbreak in ‘如梦令(常记溪亭日暮),’ which twists sorrow into a misadventure, here illusions overshadow heartbreak in a solemn hush. Both revolve around parted hopes, but one finds humor, the other mild resignation under moonlit corridors.
Ancient BisonUltimately, each verse frames heartbreak as a hush that emerges under the night sky, illusions overshadowing the poet’s memory of brighter hours. Li Qingzhao’s mild acceptance fosters empathy, reminding us that parted hopes can linger quietly, forging a vow that sorrow, though persistent, can maintain dignity under midnight’s subdued glow.
Storm GhostA short reflection: illusions fade softly in the hush of midnight, overshadowing heartbreak with a calm vow to endure sorrow without weeping, trusting the gentle quiet to cradle parted hopes.
CyberNinjaShort yet vivid: reading it feels like rising at midnight to glimpse the moon, heartbreak overshadowing illusions of daytime cheer, forging a mild vow of silent reflection.
Tiny Lime Ant HillCompared once more with Li Qingzhao’s ‘一剪梅(红藕香残玉簟秋),’ both revolve around illusions parted, overshadowing heartbreak with calm reflection. But where that poem addresses autumn hush, this one harnesses midnight’s hush—both hush-laden vantage points showing Li Qingzhao’s nuanced approach to heartbreak across varied times and moods.
Celestial Urban MirageShort note: illusions parted overshadow heartbreak with a gentle sigh in the hush of midnight, forging acceptance that no day’s brightness can reanimate what’s lost.
Atomic KnightAnother nowaday incident arises in how certain 24-hour cafes see lone patrons at 2 a.m., illusions overshadowed by mild regret. The poem’s hush-laden heartbreak parallels that subdued solace gleaned from quiet spaces open at odd hours.
Arctic MeteorSometimes I think of modern coworking spaces that never close, where illusions of entrepreneurial success overshadow heartbreak. The hush-laden sorrow found in the poem merges with that sense of illusions undone, forging a vow to persist anyway.
Atomic RavenAt times, it parallels how people in modern cityscapes wander rooftops at night, overshadowed by parted illusions that swirl in the hush above half-lit skyscrapers. The poem’s calm heartbreak resonates with that sense of illusions undone but quietly endured.
Neon Quantum VortexA middle observation: illusions once glimmered with promise, overshadowed now by heartbreak that emerges in the hush of sleepless nights, carving a subdued vow that gentle sorrow can be borne gracefully.
Bold Blue Dog PitA gentle hush saturates every line, as if illusions once shone bright but now recede under midnight’s quiet acceptance.
PixelWizarA middle reflection: illusions soared in earlier hours, overshadowed by heartbreak that emerges in hush-laden midnight stillness, forging a vow that sorrow might rest gently instead of erupting in tears.
Mild Black Ant DenAnother nowaday scenario is how people share silent night selfies or rooftop journaling sessions, overshadowed by parted illusions they can’t fully voice. The poem’s hush-laden heartbreak aligns with that intangible acceptance hidden behind mild social media posts.
