春宵 A Hymn to Spring Night

春宵

原作: 苏轼（字子瞻, 号东坡居士; 11世纪北宋）

英译: 闵晓红(2024.03)

春宵一刻值千金，

花有清香月有阴。

歌管楼台声细细，

秋千院落夜沈沈。

A Hymn to Spring Night

Chinese original: Su Shi (11th AC, social name 'Dongpo')

English version by Julia Min (Mar. 2024)

One spring night values a thousand in real gold.

In refreshing perfume the bustling blooms revel,

as dreaming moonlight roves a secret grove.

In drifting scent, a melody, so sweet—

Flute notes fill the floodlit tower and terrace,

rippling past a garden swing into my spring dream.

Appreciation:

We don’t know exactly when this lovely little poem was written—and that uncertainty makes it all the more inviting. Perhaps it came from a carefree spring night in Su Shi’s early or flourishing years, with friends, wine, and laughter all around. Or perhaps it was born of a quieter moment, when he stood slightly apart, watching joy unfold from afar. Which do you see? The poem leaves just enough space for your imagination to wander.

Its opening line has long lived on as a cherished saying, reminding us that a single spring night can be worth more than gold—especially when love, youth, and beauty are in the air. The poem unfolds like a gentle current: from blossoms breathing their fragrance into the night, to moonlight drifting through a hidden grove, to music drifting from tower and terrace. Then, softly, it carries us past an empty swing and into a dream.

And that’s where it lingers. Who was just there, laughing on the swing? Who returns, smiling, in that spring dream? The poem never says, yet somehow it feels as though we already know.

Reference:

1. picture from 搜狐号@残阳落幕