Lament for Prince Sun (At the Lake, Wind Brews an Expansive Tide) - Li Qingzhao
/怨王孙(湖上风来波浩渺) - 李清照/
Where Boundless Waters and Quiet Yearnings Drift Together
【A Representative Reconstruction in Li Qingzhao’s Style】
怨王孙(湖上风来波浩渺)
湖上风来波浩渺，
卷尽烟光，淡烟犹绕。
几点轻鸥，
寒影落双桡。
旧时小艇横塘渡，
憔悴也、是谁魂销？
昨夜笛声吹断，
隔岸灯火微茫，
未许愁怀了。
雾雨敛晴空，
料得春光犹早。
折柳何堪寄远？
暗自泪痕抛。
也只道、人如东逝水，
流恨到今宵。
怨王孙(湖上风来波浩渺)
湖上风来波浩渺，
卷尽烟光，淡烟犹绕。
几点轻鸥，
寒影落双桡。
旧时小艇横塘渡，
憔悴也、是谁魂销？
昨夜笛声吹断，
隔岸灯火微茫，
未许愁怀了。
雾雨敛晴空，
料得春光犹早。
折柳何堪寄远？
暗自泪痕抛。
也只道、人如东逝水，
流恨到今宵。
While Li Qingzhao indeed composed works that evoke lakeside vistas and gentle breezes, no fully authenticated poem begins with “湖上风来波浩渺” under the tune “怨王孙.” The piece above is a **literary homage**, weaving together her characteristic thematic strands:
1. **Lake Imagery and Faint Horizon**
- The opening lines emphasize a vast lakescape with rolling waves, swirling mist, and faint silhouettes of gulls. In classical Chinese poetry, expansive bodies of water frequently mirror expansive emotion—loneliness, hope, or lingering sorrow.
2. **Subtle Reference to Departure**
- The phrase “折柳何堪寄远？” (How can I bear to break willow branches to send off someone far away?) recalls the time-honored custom of giving willow sprigs to departing friends. This underscores the poem’s focus on separation and the poet’s nostalgia.
3. **Night Music and Distant Lights**
- “昨夜笛声吹断，隔岸灯火微茫” hints at faint echoes of a flute in the darkness and the dim shimmer of shoreline lanterns. Such details, common in Li Qingzhao’s real poems, intensify the mood of longing—where even small stimuli evoke strong emotional undercurrents.
4. **Nature’s Quiet Transformations**
- Toward the end, references to “雾雨敛晴空” (foggy drizzle giving way to a clearing sky) foreshadow spring’s approach, paralleling the poet’s own attempt to move from sorrow to acceptance. Yet the final note (“人如东逝水，流恨到今宵”) suggests that like a river’s onward flow, regret and longing persist.
5. **Tuneful Structure**
- “怨王孙” is a ci form known for its lyrical brevity, often used to convey delicate moods of loss or devotion. The repeated gesture of reflection—glancing back at old memories, hearing distant music—fits both the form’s melodic cadence and Li Qingzhao’s introspective style.
Even though this poem is a reconstruction, it aligns with Li Qingzhao’s hallmark approach to quiet heartbreak and evocative nature imagery. A hush pervades the scene—soft waves, pale mist, half-lost music—reflecting the poet’s interior hush, shaped by memory, separation, and a flicker of seasonal hope.
Key points
• Blends lakeside imagery (mist, wide waters) with intimate reflections on parted friends.
• Balances small, telling details (the echo of a flute, distant lanterns) to deepen a sense of longing.
• Conveys the cycle of winter into early spring as a subtle metaphor for emotional transitions.
• Ends on a gentle yet unresolved note, typical of Li Qingzhao’s style, where sorrow flows on like water.