赠刘景文 To Liu Jingwen

赠刘景文

原作: 苏轼

英文版： 闵晓红(2023)

荷尽已无擎雨盖，

菊残犹有傲霜枝。

一年好景君须记，

最是橙黄橘绿时。

To Liu Jingwen

Chinese original by Su Shi

English version by Julia Min (2023)

When lotus sheds no rain, winter’s call begins.

Chrysanthemums fade, still braving icy wind.  

Yet just nearby, a year’s best scene draws in—

Where oranges turn gold, tangerines stay green.

Appreciation:

Liu Jingwen had outlived everyone. His father, a general who fell fighting the Huns; his brothers, his sisters—all gone. He stood alone, a solitary branch on a dying tree. The court gave him only a minor post, though Su Shi himself praised his talent and urged promotion. Perhaps they saw only his age. Two years later, Jingwen was dead, his dreams unfinished, remembered by just one friend—a poet who, in 1090, sat beside him and tried to show him something golden still remained.

Perhaps the two friends sat together that day by a pond, a pavilion sheltering them as they shared wine and verse, paintings and music—the elegant rituals of Song dynasty gentry. Perhaps the scene before them was exactly what the poem describes: flowers fading, yet nearby, branches heavy with gold and green.

But Su Shi saw beyond the surface. The lotus, shedding rain, speaks of purity enduring loss. The chrysanthemum, braving icy wind, whispers courage. And the oranges and tangerines—golden, green—glow with promise: good luck, prosperity, life persisting.

This is Su Shi's gift: to find light in autumn's decay, to remind a weary friend that beauty has not fled—it has only changed form. The poem's quiet wisdom endures: when winter calls, look closer. The best scene may be drawing in, right where you stand.

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) (“To Liu Jingwen”—“It’s new winter and the lotus sheds no rains; / Chrysanthemum brave the frost with withered blooms./So much the nearer draws another perfect scene,/Where oranges are yellow and the tangerine are green.”)

2. picture from Google