A light boat, short oars—how fine West Lake appears!
Its emerald waters wind afar,
Sweet grasses cloak the long embankment,
While faint flutes and songs follow everywhere.
The windless surface smooth as polished glass—
So still, I hardly feel the boat’s slow glide.
Then, a slight ripple stirs,
Startling shorebirds into flight—
Their wings just grazing the bank.
Original Poem
「采桑子 · 轻舟短棹西湖好」
欧阳修
轻舟短棹西湖好，绿水逶迤。
芳草长堤，隐隐笙歌处处随。
无风水面琉璃滑，不觉船移。
微动涟漪，惊起沙禽掠岸飞。
Interpretation
Composed in the 1060s during Ouyang Xiu's retirement years, this lyric is part of his ten "Gathering Mulberries" (采桑子) series written while revisiting West Lake in Yingzhou. Liberated from official duties, the poet embraces pastoral serenity, capturing a spring boating excursion that embodies his tranquil delight in reclusion and his profound contemplation of nature's subtle beauty.
First Stanza: "轻舟短棹西湖好，绿水逶迤。芳草长堤，隐隐笙歌处处随。"
Qīng zhōu duǎn zhào xī hú hǎo, lǜ shuǐ wēi yí. Fāng cǎo cháng dī, yǐn yǐn shēng gē chù chù suí.
A light boat with short oars—how fine West Lake appears,
Where emerald waters wind their way.
Sweet grasses cloak the long embankment,
While faint flute songs follow us as if they want to stay.
The stanza paints a mobile panorama from the drifting boat's perspective. "Emerald waters winding" (绿水逶迤) creates liquid topography, while the synesthetic "sweet grasses" (芳草) blend scent and sight. The trailing flute songs (笙歌), neither obtrusive nor absent, become nature's ambient music—a hallmark of Ouyang's atmospheric subtlety.
Second Stanza: "无风水面琉璃滑，不觉船移。微动涟漪，惊起沙禽掠岸飞。"
Wú fēng shuǐ miàn liú li huá, bù jué chuán yí. Wēi dòng lián yī, jīng qǐ shā qín lüè àn fēi.
The windless surface, smooth as glass,
Makes our drifting imperceptible.
A ripple stirs—just one slight pass—
And shorebirds startle into flight, their wings reflectible.
This crystalline vignette masters stillness-in-motion. The "glass-smooth" (琉璃滑) surface mirrors meditative calm, disrupted only by the faintest ripple (微动涟漪) that triggers an avian exodus. The shorebirds' (沙禽) sudden flight becomes nature's haiku—an ephemeral moment where human presence gently intersects with wildness.
Holistic Appreciation
This delicate and luminous lyric captures the poet’s serene joy as he wanders freely amid the spring scenery of West Lake. Centered on a "light boat," the poem threads together the lake’s glassy surface, fragrant bankside grasses, distant songs of revelry, and the sudden stir of waterfowl, unfolding like a flowing landscape painting.
The upper stanza focuses on the lakeshore’s verdure and music, blending movement and stillness, sight and sound to evoke West Lake’s gentle spring ambiance. The lower stanza draws the gaze inward to the water’s surface and the boat’s glide, where details like the "slippery crystal" of windless waves and ripples startling birds elevate the aesthetic of "motion within stillness" and "stillness within motion" to perfection. The closing image—"shore-skimming sandpipers in flight"—animates the scene with ethereal vitality.
The poem’s brilliance lies in its minimalism: it suggests grandeur through subtlety, conveys tranquility through motion, and expresses emotion purely through imagery. Without a single explicit declaration, it radiates the poet’s quiet delight, peace, and contentment. Ethereal in mood and elegant in tone, it epitomizes the subdued, transcendent style of Ouyang Xiu’s later years.
Artistic Merits
- A Boat’s Journey as Narrative Thread: The poem unfolds from the vantage of the drifting boat, moving from shore to water, far to near, stillness to motion, constructing a layered spatial tapestry.
- Dynamic Stillness, Vivid Imagery: Lines like "windless water, slippery as glass," "faint ripples stir," and "birds grazing the shore" masterfully render the rhythm of interplaying calm and movement.
- Sensory Harmony: "Emerald waves" and "fragrant grasses" feast the eyes; faint "pipes and songs" drift to the ears, immersing the reader in the scene.
- Refined Language, Elevated Tone: The diction is fresh and understated, free of ornament yet profoundly evocative, blending poetic lyricism with painterly vision.
Insights
More than a mere depiction of a springtime boat ride, this lyric reflects Ouyang Xiu’s late-life mindset—finding beauty in nature’s simplicity and life’s quiet tremors amid travel. It reminds us that even in mundane moments, a contemplative heart can perceive the world’s splendor; inner stillness can transform a stretch of green water and a lone drifting boat into spiritual solace.
About the Poet
Ouyang Xiu (欧阳修, 1007 - 1072), a native of Yongfeng, Jizhou (present-day Jiangxi Province), emerged as the preeminent literary figure of the Northern Song Dynasty. After attaining the jinshi degree in 1030, he spearheaded a literary reform movement that rejected the ornate Xikun style prevalent at court. As a mentor who nurtured literary giants like Su Shi and Zeng Gong, he laid the foundation for the golden age of Northern Song literature. Recognized as one of the "Eight Great Prose Masters of Tang and Song," Ouyang stands as the pivotal figure in the transformation of Northern Song literary culture.
