[Poem] ADDING WORDS TO CHOU NU ER (WHO PLANTED BANANA TREES OUTSIDE THE WINDOW) - An Intimate Glimpse into Solitude and Green Shadows

In “Adding Words to Chou Nu Er (Who Planted Banana Trees Outside the Window),” Li Qingzhao sets the scene with an unexpected focal point: the broad-leafed banana (芭蕉). Traditionally, banana plants (or plantains) in Chinese poetry provide a musical drumming when rain falls, amplifying feelings of nostalgia or heartache. Here, the poet uses the tree’s spreading shade as both a literal and emotional emblem:

1. **A Private Courtyard Transformed**
- The poem begins by calling attention to the banana tree’s shade, which “overtakes the courtyard.” This visual invites us to imagine how something so simple—broad leaves stirring in a breeze—can reshape an entire domestic space.

2. **Layered Imagery: “叶叶心心”**
- The repetition of “leaf upon leaf, heart upon heart” reveals Li Qingzhao’s characteristic melding of the physical and the emotional. As each leaf unfolds, it mirrors the poet’s layered thoughts, expanding and then curling back in.

3. **Sorrow and Longing**
- In the second stanza, the poet acknowledges “旧愁” (old sorrows) that persist through many dusks. By repeating “几度黄昏” (how many dusks), Li Qingzhao stresses how time and memory intertwine—each twilight rekindles her sense of loss.

4. **Sending Yearning Across Distance**
- The final line, “寄与相思，岭外人虽远” (“I send my longing, though you’re far beyond the mountains”), captures the essence of ci poetry’s focus on separation. It suggests that, despite the beloved’s remoteness, the poet’s yearning transcends geography.

5. **Tune Pattern: “Chou Nu Er”**
- The name “添字丑奴儿” (Adding Words to Chou Nu Er) indicates an extended version of the “Chou Nu Er” ci form. Characteristic of such expansions is the echo or direct repetition in lines (e.g., “阴满中庭，阴满中庭” and “几度黄昏，几度黄昏”), a structural device that intensifies the poem’s mood.

Overall, this ci demonstrates Li Qingzhao’s signature gifts: distilling private experience into vivid, tangible imagery and suffusing simple household or garden details with deep emotional resonance. The banana tree’s broad leaves not only drape the courtyard in shade but also drape the poet’s heart in a soft gloom of memories and yearnings. Through minimalist description, the poet invites readers to linger in that hush, where the quiet rustling of leaves becomes an echo of lingering sorrows—and of a hope that, even at great distance, one’s longing can be felt.