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Immortal in Heaven: Listening to Water Melody with Wine

By Zhang Xian Song Dynasty

English Poetic Translation

Several notes of Water Melody, I hold my cup and list,
Waking from midday wine, my sorrow lingers still.
I bid farewell to spring; when will the spring return?
Before the evening glass,
I mourn the passing scene.
Old vows and future trysts are empty memories now.
Twin birds upon the sand, dusk settles on the pond;
Clouds break, the moon shines through, flowers sport with shadows.
Heavy curtains fold on fold closely shield the lamp,
The night wind will not rest,
The household grows serene,
Tomorrow falling petals surely crowd the paths.

Classical Chinese & Pinyin

水調數聲持酒聽。
午醉醒來愁未醒。
送春春去幾時回，臨晚鏡。
傷流景。
往事後期空記省。
沙上並禽池上暝。
雲破月來花弄影。
重重簾幕密遮燈，風不定。
人初靜。
明日落紅應滿徑。

shuǐ diào shù shēng chí jiǔ tīng
wǔ zuì xǐng lái chóu wèi xǐng
sòng chūn chūn qù jǐ shí huí
lín wǎn jìng
shāng liú jǐng
wǎng shì hòu qī kōng jì xǐng
shā shàng bìng qín chí shàng míng
yún pò yuè lái huā nòng yǐng
chóng chóng lián mù mì zhē dēng
fēng bù dìng
rén chū jìng
míng rì luò hóng yìng mǎn jìng

Philological Direct Translation

Water melody several sounds holding wine listening.
Midday drunkenness waking up sorrow not yet waking.
Sending spring spring departing when time return,
Facing evening mirror.
Grieving flowing scenery.
Past events later promises vainly remembering and reflecting.
On sand paired birds on pond dusk.
Clouds breaking moon coming flowers playing shadows.
Layered upon layered curtains closely blocking lamps,
Wind unstable.
People initially quiet.
Tomorrow falling reds should fill paths.

Scholarly Exegesis & Cultural Commentary

I. Formal Poetic Architecture & Meter

This lyric is composed to the tune title 'Tiansianzi' (Immortal of Heaven). As a Song dynasty ci poem, its metrical structure follows a precise prescribed tonal pattern and rhyme scheme. The piece is characterized by mixed line lengths, alternating short bursts of exclamatory rhythm with more expansive contemplative phrases, creating a dynamic cadence that mirrors the shifting emotional states of the speaker. The rhyme scheme shifts delicately across its sections, employing level tone rhymes that evoke a melancholy, lingering resonance suited to the theme of parting and temporal evanescence.

II. Historical Chronology & Existential Impulse

Zhang Xian (990–1078) lived during the Northern Song dynasty, an era of high refinement in elite culture and lyric poetry. Known as one of the masters of the ci form, Zhang often bridged the gap between the earlier, ornate style of the Five Dynasties and the more expansive, literati-driven aesthetics of the mature Song. This piece captures a quintessential Northern Song sensibility: the acute awareness of passing time, aging, and the bittersweet transition from spring to summer, framed through the refined leisure and private emotional landscapes of the scholar-official class.

III. Line-by-Line Exegesis & Allusion Decoding

Lines 1-2: 'Several notes of Water Melody held in hand while listening to wine / Waking from a midday drunken stupor, the sorrow remains un-soothed.' The poem opens mid-experience, blending auditory and gustatory sensations as the famous tune 'Shuidiao' plays, setting a heavy emotional atmosphere that sleep fails to dispel.
Lines 3-5: 'Seeing spring off, spring departs, when will it return? Facing the evening mirror / Grieving over the flowing scenery / Past events and future promises are vainly remembered and examined.' The departure of spring is personified as a profound loss, mirrored in the aging face seen in the mirror and the relentless, irreversible flow of time.
Lines 6-7: 'On the sand, paired waterfowl; on the pond, twilight falls / Clouds break, the moon emerges, flowers play with their shadows.' A masterclass in objective correlative; the natural imagery contrasts the bonded ducks with the solitary speaker, while the dynamic interplay of moonlight, breaking clouds, and floral shadows creates a vivid cinematic vignette.
Lines 8-10: 'Layer upon layer of curtains closely screen the lamp, the wind is unstable / People are first settling down / Tomorrow, fallen red petals should fill the paths.' The closing lines retreat inward behind heavy blinds against the restless night wind, anticipating the inevitable morning devastation of the fallen blossoms.

IV. Aesthetic Synthesis & Poetic Aftertaste

The enduring brilliance of this ci lies in its seamless fusion of external scenery with internal psychological depth. The middle couplet—specifically 'Clouds break, the moon emerges, flowers play with their shadows'—is celebrated as a pinnacle of Song dynasty imagistic art, praised for its dynamic verbs ('break,' 'emerges,' 'play') that animate inanimate nature. The poem leaves an exquisite aftertaste of poignant melancholy, encapsulating the eternal human lament over the transience of beauty, youth, and spring.