Whispering, whispering under the dim window;
Chirping, chirping deep within the grass.
In autumn, it stirs a longing wife’s heart;
On rainy nights, it harrows a lonely listener’s ear.
Original Poem
「秋虫」
白居易
切切暗窗下，喓喓深草里。
秋天思妇心，雨夜愁人耳。
Interpretation
The precise date of this poem’s composition is difficult to ascertain. Judging from its concise depth and the far-reaching nature of its sentiment, it belongs to Bai Juyi’s period of mature poetic artistry. This five-character quatrain follows the traditional theme of boudoir lament inherited from Southern Dynasties folksongs and Palace-Style poetry. Yet it strips away all ornamental excess, employing the most minimal imagery and the purest language to capture a universal pulse of human emotion within an autumn night’s chorus of sounds. It avoids elaborate description and literary allusions. Using only twenty characters, it establishes a resonant connection between insect song and a sorrowful heart that reaches to the essence of feeling, showcasing Bai Juyi’s extraordinary skill in creating profundity from the commonplace.
First Couplet: “切切暗窗下，喓喓深草里。”
Qièqiè àn chuāng xià, yāoyāo shēn cǎo lǐ.
A fretful "qiè, qiè" beneath the dim window's ledge; / A plaintive "yāo, yāo" from deep within the hedge.
The opening creates a world constructed purely from sound, eschewing all visual imagery. "Qièqiè" and "yāoyāo" are two carefully chosen reduplicative onomatopoeic words: the "qiè, qiè" sound is urgent, fragmented, as if longing to express infinite sorrow; the "yāo, yāo" sound is relatively clearer, more drawn-out, seeming to come from a deeper emptiness. The two sounds—one near, one far; one dense, one sparse—weave together into an intangible web of sound enveloping the autumn night. "Beneath the dim window" and "from deep within the hedge" not only locate the sources of the sound but also enhance the atmosphere of darkness, depth, and impenetrability, lending the sounds a spatial texture and an emotional undertone. The insects are unseen; only their voices are heard. Hearing is infinitely magnified, becoming the sole channel to the inner world.
Second Couplet: “秋天思妇心，雨夜愁人耳。”
Qiūtiān sīfù xīn, yǔyè chóu rén ěr.
It is the pining wife's heart in autumn's sway; / To the sorrowful ear, on a rainy night, it is a bitter overlay.
This couplet is the soul of the poem, shifting abruptly from objective description to direct interpretation, accomplishing a daring leap from the physical to the psychological. The poet clearly states that this autumn insect song is no longer mere natural sound; it has been saturated by the desolate temperament of the season ("autumn") and the plaintive state of mind belonging to the archetype of the "pining wife," transforming into an audible externalization of the "heart." The specific situation of the "rainy night" acts as a catalyst, causing the already sensitive "ear" of the "sorrowful" person to perceive this sound with acute pain. The two lines form an exquisite logical chain: Autumn (the season) gives rise to the pining wife's heart (a quintessential emotion). This state of mind externalizes into (or is perceived as) the autumn insect song (natural image), and the rainy night (environment), through the sorrowful ear (subjective receptor), finally accomplishes the ultimate recognition and intensification of this sound and this feeling.
Holistic Appreciation
The charm of this short poem lies in its high degree of abstraction and concision, and the vast interpretive space this creates. It presents a perfect trinity of "image (insect song)—emotion (sorrowful heart)—situation (autumn rainy night)." The poet seems to have stripped away specific characters, events, and plots, retaining only the core emotional elements and mode of perception. The first two lines "create the atmosphere," using the purest sound depiction to evoke an auditory space full of melancholic suggestion. The last two lines "add the pivotal touch," directly revealing the emotional essence of the sound and the mechanism of its reception. The entire poem resembles a miniature psychological drama, revealing how external natural sounds are captured and interpreted by the internal structure of human emotion, ultimately becoming the "objective correlative" of feeling. It writes not only of the "pining wife" but of all "sorrowful" people entangled by unbidden melancholy on a silent, rainy night.
Artistic Merits
- Using Sound to Depict Silence, Using Movement to Contrast Stillness: The poem focuses entirely on the faint yet persistent sound of "insect song," thereby highlighting the profound silence and boundless desolation of the autumn rainy night. This is a masterful application of the classical Chinese poetic technique of contrast, as seen in lines like "The cicada's noise makes the forest seem more still; / The bird's song makes the mountain seem more serene."
- The Emotional Use of Onomatopoeia: "Qièqiè" and "yāoyāo" are not merely imitations; their very pronunciation carries emotional hues of plaintiveness and melancholy. The poet utilizes the phonetic qualities of the Chinese language to make the sound form of the words isomorphic with the emotional content they express.
- An Abstract Structure of Logical Progression: From "insect sound" (object) to "autumn heart" (the condensation of season and emotion), to the "sorrowful ear" (subjective perception), there exists a clear relationship of cause, effect, and progression between the lines. This imbues this intuitive short poem with a rational inner tension.
- The Universalizing of the Theme: The poet swiftly transitions from the specific image of the "pining wife" to the generalized "sorrowful person." This elevates the poem from a boudoir lament to a philosophical expression of a universal human emotional experience within a specific season and environment, vastly broadening its artistic and conceptual scope.
Insights
This poem demonstrates how Bai Juyi transformed a delicate, even somewhat intimate traditional theme into a masterpiece of universal aesthetic and philosophical significance. It reveals a core secret of artistic creation: The most profound emotions often do not require complex plots or elaborate imagery; one need only find the most precise "trigger" (like the autumn insect song here) to awaken an entire emotional world.
The poem also prompts us to contemplate the nature of "listening." The same insect song might be a pastoral symphony to joyful ears, yet an unbearable lament to the "sorrowful ear." It tells us that the world we perceive is never objective; it is profoundly filtered and shaped by our "heart" and "ear"—that is, by our subjective emotions and attention. With acute insight, the poet captures this subtle moment of interaction between perception and feeling.
In our current era of informational and auditory excess, "Autumn Insects" offers a lesson in "inward listening." By pausing, by closing some channels, perhaps we can truly hear, within the faint sounds of "qiè, qiè" and "yāo, yāo," the seasons and weather within our own hearts, and understand those modern anxieties that, like the "pining wife's heart in autumn," have nowhere to settle. The value of this poem lies in its use of the most classical form to touch upon the most contemporary issues of the soul—how, amidst clamor and solitude, to recognize and find a place for the subtle yet authentic sound of our own emotions.
About the Poet
Bai Juyi (白居易), 772 - 846 AD, was originally from Taiyuan, then moved to Weinan in Shaanxi. Bai Juyi was the most prolific poet of the Tang Dynasty, with poems in the categories of satirical oracles, idleness, sentimentality, and miscellaneous rhythms, and the most influential poet after Li Bai Du Fu.
