水龙吟. 似花还似飞花 An Ode to Catkins

水龙吟. 似花还似飞花

(次韵章质夫杨花词）

原作: 苏轼（11世纪北宋）

英译: 闵晓红(2025)

似花还似飞花，

也无人惜从教坠。

抛家旁路，

思量却是，无情有思。

萦损柔肠，

困酣娇眼，欲开还闭。

梦随风万里，

寻郎去处，又还被莺呼起。

不恨此花飞尽，

恨西园，落红难缀。

晓来雨过，

遗踪何在？一池萍碎。

春色三分，

两分尘土，一分流水。

细看来，不是杨花，

点点是离人泪。

An Ode to Catkins

-      to the tune of Shuilongyin

(in the same rhyming scheme as “An Ode to Catkins” by Zhang Zhifu)

Chinese original: Su Shi

English version: Julia Min

Like and yet unlike flowers,

No one grieves their fall or heeds their grace.

Cast off to roadsides, drifting in empty air,

They’re read as women’s shifting desires.

Yet I see her inner world—

A tender heart budded in the leaf’s slender eye,

Poised to open, but in a wind-dream it lingers,

Seeking her distant husband when orioles cry.

It’s not the catkin’s parting flight I fear,But West Garden’s bloom, fallen beyond recall.After dawn’s chasing rain, the remnants, where?

Shattered into duckweed, driven here and there.

If the blooming spring has three endings,

Two must be in dust, one in water.     

Look closer —

They are not catkins, but a world of tears!

Like and yet unlike flowers,

No one grieves their fall or heeds their grace.

Cast off to roadsides, drifting in empty air,

They’re read as women’s shifting desires.

Yet I see her inner world—

A tender heart budded in the leaf’s slender eye,

Poised to open, but in a wind-dream it lingers,

Seeking her distant husband when orioles cry.

It’s not the catkin’s parting flight I fear,But West Garden’s bloom, fallen beyond recall.After dawn’s chasing rain, the remnants, where?

Shattered into duckweed, driven here and there.

If the blooming spring has three endings,

Two must be in dust, one in water.     

Look closer —

They are not catkins, but a world of tears!

Notes:

1.     Zhang, Zhifu: an official in Hubei who enjoyed writing poems in the same rhyming scheme as Su Shi’s ci poem. Su Shi did the same, echoing Zhifu’s ci poems.

2.     ‘the leaf’s slender eye’: A poetic reference to the shape of willow leaves, which resemble a woman’s eyebrows.

Appreciation:

Although Dongpo is better known for his heroic poetry, his sentimental ci poems are also well received; this is a good example. This ci dates back to 1087, when the poet and politician had already had an intention of resigning from the Royal Court after witnessing the fierce struggle between the old and the new parties over the New Laws.

Catkins from weeping willows are often used in literature as a motif for the helpless fate of drifting on flowing water, suggesting a fate beyond one’s control. Here, they are associated with his official career and ambitions driven by the big social machine or program. The tender eyes of the budding leaves clearly suggest the poem by Jiu Changxu (Tang Dynasty) “Spring Grief”, where a lovesick lady dreams of a reunion with her husband, only to be disrupted by the oriole singing at her window. She cries out: “Drive the birds away. She breaks my dream of my love far away in West Liao.” The insinuation here is an interrupted, distracted moment of beauty, as in the chaos of social activities intruding on the poet’s pursuit of living true to his own desires. 

“West Garden” here could refer to his followers in the Old Party. Su Shi was then a leading figure in the party, sometimes called the “The West Shu Party” (West Shu refers to his native place in Sichuan Province in western China). Soon after he was sentenced to prison, his followers were removed from key political roles, one by one. Thus, he sighed that his spring days were over, yet most regretfully, his downfall affected the fate of all his followers. Here, Su Shi famously divides the fate of spring into three parts: "Two must be in dust, one in water." This reflects the Buddhist-influenced view of the transience of life—everything eventually dissolves back into the elements.

The implied meaning of flying catkin in Chinese today is often associated with disloyal wives who go with the flow of their sexual chemistry, leaving their husbands and families behind. There was a traditional Chinese belief that fallen catkins turned into duckweed (floating aquatic plants) upon contact with water. This imagery emphasises a life that never finds a "root" or a home.

It's also worth noting the format of this ci, in which Su Shi wrote with the same rhyming scheme and sequence, even using the same rhyming words as in Zhifu’s ci poem. He was indeed very strict with himself! Recognised as one of the great poets among the gentry class, Su Shi was often challenged to such intellectual entertainment, which was quite popular at his time. Su’s poem wins over Zhang’s in many ways. I’m attaching a copy of Zhang’s poem for your entertainment if you can read Chinese.

Reference:

1. Blooming Alone in Winter by Gordon Osing, Julia Min and Huang Haipeng，published by the People's Publication House Henan Province in 1990 (《寒心未肯随春态》戈登.奥赛茵，闵晓红，黄海鹏) ("Like and yet unlike flowers, /No one honours their obedience to a fate of falling./They’re called ungrateful there at the roadside, but I see/It’s not heartless, the sorrow and drift of their flying./Their twining flowers wound a heart whose tender eyes /Are trying to open, but close upon a dream ten-thousand miles /Away, seeking her husband where he’s gone. Then oriole wakens! //No, I don’t hate the catkin willows, completely barren. /I do fear I can’t put back the flowers, in the West Garden. /The morning after a good rain, though. Their remnants, where’d they go? /Into the pool of duckweed, driven one way then another./There are three Springs, two dust, one water, flowing away./Look closer: they’re not catkins; each fallen one’s a lady’s desolate tear.")

2. 章质夫杨花词《水龙吟》：燕忙莺懒芳残, 正堤上、柳花飘坠。轻飞乱舞，点画青林，全无才思。闲趁游丝，静临深院，日长门闭。傍珠帘散漫，垂垂欲下，依前被、风扶起。//兰帐玉人睡觉，怪春衣、雪沾琼缀。绣床旋满，香球无数，才圆却碎。时见蜂儿，仰粘轻粉，鱼吞池水。望章台路杳，金鞍游荡，有盈盈泪。

3. painting from Google；

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