Pin on Her Hairpin (Soft Red Hands) - Lu You
/钗头凤(红酥手) - 陆游/
Where Broken Vows and Spring’s Turbulent Breeze Meet
【Original Chinese】
钗头凤(红酥手)
红酥手，黄藤酒，
满城春色宫墙柳。
东风恶，欢情薄，
一怀愁绪，几年离索。
错、错、错！
春如旧，人空瘦，
泪痕红浥鲛绡透。
桃花落，闲池阁，
山盟虽在，锦书难托。
莫、莫、莫！
【Literal English Translation (Line by Line)】
Pin on Her Hairpin (Soft Red Hands)
Soft red hands, yellow rattan wine—
All through the city, spring spreads, willows drape the palace walls.
The east wind is cruel, warm joys prove thin,
A heartful of sorrow—years of parting and loss.
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Spring remains the same, yet one grows lean in vain,
Red tears stain the gauzy silk.
Peach blossoms drift, the pond and pavilion lie idle,
Though the pledge of mountains endures, no embroidered letter can be entrusted.
No, no, no!
钗头凤(红酥手)
红酥手，黄藤酒，
满城春色宫墙柳。
东风恶，欢情薄，
一怀愁绪，几年离索。
错、错、错！
春如旧，人空瘦，
泪痕红浥鲛绡透。
桃花落，闲池阁，
山盟虽在，锦书难托。
莫、莫、莫！
【Literal English Translation (Line by Line)】
Pin on Her Hairpin (Soft Red Hands)
Soft red hands, yellow rattan wine—
All through the city, spring spreads, willows drape the palace walls.
The east wind is cruel, warm joys prove thin,
A heartful of sorrow—years of parting and loss.
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Spring remains the same, yet one grows lean in vain,
Red tears stain the gauzy silk.
Peach blossoms drift, the pond and pavilion lie idle,
Though the pledge of mountains endures, no embroidered letter can be entrusted.
No, no, no!
“Pin on Her Hairpin (Soft Red Hands)” by Lu You (1125–1210) is among the most famous ci poems of the Southern Song Dynasty, treasured for its poignant reflection on lost love. It is widely believed that Lu You wrote this poem after a chance encounter with his former wife, Tang Wan, in the gardens of Shen Yuan. The circumstances of their forced separation—against their will—led each to remarry, yet their affection remained unresolved.
In just two short stanzas, Lu You conveys the intertwined themes of spring’s deceptive beauty and the enduring ache of an unhealed wound. “Soft red hands, yellow rattan wine” evoke a fleeting moment of shared warmth or memory, but the “east wind” swiftly unravels the fragile happiness. The poet laments the passage of years steeped in “parting and loss,” underscored by the repeated cry of “错、错、错” (wrong, wrong, wrong!).
The second stanza connects the poet’s ongoing sorrow—“one grows lean in vain”—with the unstoppable cycle of spring: although nature reawakens, the poet remains trapped in regret. The phrase “山盟虽在，锦书难托” (though the pledge of mountains still stands, no embroidered letter can be entrusted) highlights how a once-passionate vow—symbolized by a grand oath upon mountains—has been rendered meaningless in the face of forced separation and present realities.
In the end, “莫、莫、莫” (no, no, no!) mirrors the finality and frustration that overshadow both the poet’s longing and the resurrected spring. This contradiction—a season of renewal against a broken personal bond—makes the poem a timeless symbol of deep regret. Through carefully chosen images (red tears, drifting peach blossoms, idle pondside pavilions), Lu You fuses external scenery and inner sorrow. The result is a masterful depiction of how abiding heartache can linger despite spring’s outward revival.
Key points
• Depicts the aftermath of a forced separation between Lu You and his former wife, Tang Wan.
• Pairs spring’s apparent renewal (willow-draped walls, drifting blossoms) with the poet’s unresolved grief.
• Uses repetition (“错、错、错” and “莫、莫、莫”) to heighten emotional intensity.
• Demonstrates the Southern Song ci tradition of mirroring personal sorrow through evocative nature imagery.