Qing Bei (Wild Ducks Alight on the Frosty Shoal) - Liu Yong
/倾杯(鹜落霜洲) - 柳永/
Where Autumn Waters and Lonely Dreams Converge
【Original Chinese】
倾杯(鹜落霜洲)
鹜落霜洲，寒声又起，败荷满汀汀。
烟水深秋，千山暮影，谁见愁心几许？
念当年、欢游处，依约前度鸥盟。
别后翠衾孤枕，夜长谁共语？
层城远，难寄鸿书。
此际衡门自闭，闲凭栏干且看江月。
风住花残，徒添惆怅。
奈何风露偏催客，茫然旧梦成空，天涯静诉。
【English Translation (Line by Line)】
Qing Bei (Wild Ducks Alight on the Frosty Shoal)
Wild ducks touch down on a frosty shoal, the chill stirs once more,
Wilted lotuses stretch across the shoal.
Amid mist-shrouded waters in deep autumn, twilight darkens a thousand hills—
Who can fathom how heavy my sorrow grows?
I recall the times we roamed freely, the vague echoes of a pact made with seagulls.
After our parting, my jade quilt and lonely pillow remain—
Who will share this long night of solitude?
The far-off city walls offer no place to send my letter.
Now my simple gate stands closed,
And I lean on the railing in idle thought, gazing at the river’s moon.
The breeze dies down, flowers fade; regret only deepens.
Alas, the chill wind and dew hasten the traveler onward;
Empty are my former dreams, left to be whispered across the world’s wide reaches.
倾杯(鹜落霜洲)
鹜落霜洲，寒声又起，败荷满汀汀。
烟水深秋，千山暮影，谁见愁心几许？
念当年、欢游处，依约前度鸥盟。
别后翠衾孤枕，夜长谁共语？
层城远，难寄鸿书。
此际衡门自闭，闲凭栏干且看江月。
风住花残，徒添惆怅。
奈何风露偏催客，茫然旧梦成空，天涯静诉。
【English Translation (Line by Line)】
Qing Bei (Wild Ducks Alight on the Frosty Shoal)
Wild ducks touch down on a frosty shoal, the chill stirs once more,
Wilted lotuses stretch across the shoal.
Amid mist-shrouded waters in deep autumn, twilight darkens a thousand hills—
Who can fathom how heavy my sorrow grows?
I recall the times we roamed freely, the vague echoes of a pact made with seagulls.
After our parting, my jade quilt and lonely pillow remain—
Who will share this long night of solitude?
The far-off city walls offer no place to send my letter.
Now my simple gate stands closed,
And I lean on the railing in idle thought, gazing at the river’s moon.
The breeze dies down, flowers fade; regret only deepens.
Alas, the chill wind and dew hasten the traveler onward;
Empty are my former dreams, left to be whispered across the world’s wide reaches.
In this ci (lyric) poem set to the tune “Qing Bei” (倾杯), Liu Yong paints a scene of late autumn desolation on a riverside shoal. The opening image of wild ducks landing amid frosty shores instantly evokes both seasonal chill and emotional solitude. Common in Song Dynasty poetry, the lotus—now wilted—suggests that the joys of warmer days have passed. This duality between physical decay and the speaker’s inward sorrow characterizes the poem.
As the poem progresses, Liu Yong introduces the motif of distant horizons and unreachable companions. The speaker’s mind drifts back to past revelries—joyful times shared under open skies, once witnessed by friendly seagulls (“鸥盟”). The mention of “jade quilt” and “lonely pillow” subtly underscores an absence that becomes most acute during the long autumn nights. In classical Chinese verse, night often magnifies longing, as memories and regrets echo more profoundly in the hush.
The middle section turns attention to the difficulty of communication. City walls stand distant, and the speaker’s gate remains closed—suggesting that neither letters nor visits can breach the gap. Instead, the speaker’s only companion is the moonlit water, both beautiful and remote. The final images—faded flowers, a stalled breeze, and glimmering dew—intensify a sense of stagnation, as though time itself were pausing in recognition of the poet’s melancholy. With dreams now emptily recalled, the poet’s yearning becomes a private prayer uttered to the silent horizon.
Stylistically, the poem blends crisp nature imagery with personal reflection, a hallmark of ci poetry. By weaving details of wilting lotuses, solitary nights, and drifting geese, Liu Yong accentuates the interplay between physical surroundings and inner longing. There is no grand resolution or fiery climax. Instead, the poem dissolves into a bittersweet hush—an elegy for what has been lost and an acknowledgement that such longing may remain forever unfulfilled.
Key points
• Depicts an autumn landscape to mirror the speaker’s sorrow and sense of isolation.
• Uses motifs like wilting lotuses, distant city walls, and moonlit nights to evoke longing.
• Reflects Liu Yong’s signature ci style: intimate emotion conveyed through nature’s shifting moods.
• Concludes on a note of quiet lament, underscoring the enduring ache of separation and unfulfilled dreams.