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Terrace of Gaoyang: Welcoming the Spring Amid Remnants of Snow

By Han Ju Song Dynasty

English Poetic Translation

Repeated chimes of silver tallies fall,
While crimson candles burn the night anew;
The tumbling years strike terror in the breast.
We bid farewell to old and welcome new,
How many moments can these hours subdue?
Growing in years, how could one bear the test
Of drinking all night long—yet if I rest,
Unsleeping, I still dread the freezing cold.
I veil my quiet cup.
Only the plum flowers hold
Their watch, and share my quiet, murmured song.

The village girls already don spring guise,
With jade-green waists and golden swallow ties.
They court the eastern wind, where passions throng,
Aware how hard to check long-harbored sighs.
Can youthful blooms forever match our prime?
Indulge in reckless tours while in our time!
Let us ascend the heights to gaze afar:
Upon the fading snow where towers gleam,
And lingering sunlight warms the garden stream.

Classical Chinese & Pinyin

頻聽銀籤，重燃絳蠟，年華袞袞驚心。
餞舊迎新，能消幾刻光陰。
老來可慣通宵飲，待不眠、還怕寒侵。
掩清尊。
多謝梅花，伴我微吟。
鄰娃已試春妝了，更蜂腰簇翠，燕股橫金。
勾引東風，也知芳思難禁。
朱顏那有年年好，逞豔遊、贏取如今。
恣登臨。
殘雪樓臺，遲日園林。

pín tīng yín qiān, chóng rán jiàng là, nián huá gǔn gǔn jīng xīn.
jiàn jiù yíng xīn, néng xiāo jǐ kè guāng yīn.
lǎo lái kě guàn tōng xiāo yǐn, dài bù mián, hái pà hán qīn.
yǎn qīng zūn.
duō xiè méi huā, bàn wǒ wēi yín.
lín wá yǐ shì chūn zhuāng le, gèng fēng yāo cù cuì, yàn gǔ héng jīn.
gōu yǐn dōng fēng, yě zhī fāng sī nán jìn.
zhū yán nǎ yǒu nián nián hǎo, chěng yàn yóu, yíng qǔ rú jīn.
zì dēng lín.
cán xuě lóu tái, chí rì yuán lín.

Philological Direct Translation

Frequently listening to silver tally-sticks, again burning crimson candles, passing years rolling by startle the heart.
Bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, how many moments of time can they consume?
Growing old, how can one be accustomed to all-night drinking, waiting without sleep, yet still fearing the cold's intrusion?
Covering the clear goblet.
Many thanks to the plum blossoms, accompanying my low chanting.
Neighboring maidens have already tried out their spring makeup, furthermore with wasp waists clustered in kingfisher green, swallow thighs crossed in gold.
Enticing the eastern breeze, they also know that fragrant longings are hard to restrain.
How could youthful complexions be fine year after year, indulging in gorgeous excursions, win this present moment.
Wantonly ascending heights and looking far.
Remaining snow on storied pavilions, lingering sun over gardens and groves.

Scholarly Exegesis & Cultural Commentary

I. Formal Poetic Architecture & Meter

This work is composed to the Song lyric tune titled Terrace of Gaoyang. The meter follows a strict bipartite structure characteristic of major Northern to Southern Song transitional lyric tunes, featuring shifting line lengths that mirror the psychological oscillation between melancholy reflection and external vernal awakening. The rhyme scheme shifts dynamically across stanzas, utilizing level-tone rhyme groups that impart a resonant, elegiac acoustic quality well-suited for nocturnal rumination giving way to daytime observation.

II. Historical Chronology & Existential Impulse

Set against the backdrop of the Southern Song elite diaspora and the melancholic introspection characteristic of scholars displaced or aging amidst dynastic transition, the poem captures the universal existential dread of fleeting time. Han Ju reflects upon the passage of years with the acute sensitivity of a literatus confronting physical decline, late-night sobriety struggles, and the stark contrast between youthful vitality and autumnal aging in an era defined by shifting imperial geographies and cultural preservation.

III. Line-by-Line Exegesis & Allusion Decoding

The poem progresses from the claustrophobic interiority of a sleepless winter night to the vibrant exteriority of early spring gardens.

Lines 1-2 (Opening Couplet): Line 1 ("Frequently listening to silver tally-sticks, again burning crimson candles") establishes a nocturnal chamber setting where time is artificially measured by melting wax and water-clock tallies, while Line 2 ("passing years rolling by startle the heart") introduces the central psychological shock of unrelenting temporal velocity.
Lines 3-4 (First Antithetical Turn): Line 3 ("Bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new") invokes the cyclical New Year festival, contrasting societal celebration with the poet's internal depletion, as Line 4 ("how many moments of time can they consume?") questions the ultimate value of ephemeral merrymaking.
Lines 5-6 (Second Antithetical Turn / Climax): Line 5 ("Growing old, how can one be accustomed to all-night drinking") highlights physical frailty, while Line 6 ("waiting without sleep, yet still fearing the cold's intrusion") captures the acute discomfort of nocturnal isolation and failing health.
Closing Lines (Resolving Couplet): Line 15 ("Remaining snow on storied pavilions, lingering sun over gardens and groves") provides a sublime visual resolution, juxtaposing the cold remnants of winter with the benevolent warmth of an advancing spring sun.

IV. Cultural Symbolism & Key Metaphors

The poem relies on profound traditional imagery to articulate emotional states without direct didacticism.

Plum Blossoms: In Line 10 ("Many thanks to the plum blossoms, accompanying my low chanting"), the winter plum serves as the ultimate moral and aesthetic companion, symbolizing steadfast integrity and desolate beauty in the face of bitter cold.
Spring Makeup and Attire: Lines 11-12 ("Neighboring maidens have already tried out their spring makeup, furthermore with wasp waists clustered in kingfisher green") deploy vivid color tokens to represent untainted youthful vitality and the unyielding cycle of renewal.

V. Philosophical Core & Global Resonance

The poem synthesizes Daoist meditations on the inevitability of transformation with Confucian sorrow over unfulfilled potential and passing time. By juxtaposing the relentless march of aging against the indifferent beauty of natural renewal—symbolized by melting snow and lingering sunlight—the text transcends its historical moment, offering a timeless meditation on human vulnerability, courage, and aesthetic appreciation in the face of mortality.