Your bashful face could hardly bear the weight of tears;
Your long, long brows would easily feel sorrow nears.
Of all the moonlit nights on earth when people part,
Two-thirds shed sad light on Yangzhou with broken heart.
Original Poem
「忆扬州」
徐凝
萧娘脸薄难胜泪，桃叶眉尖易觉愁。
天下三分明月夜，二分无赖是扬州。
Interpretation
This exquisite quatrain by Tang poet Xu Ning distills profound longing into four masterful lines. Through the dual lens of a sorrowful maiden's farewell and the poet's own nostalgic yearning, the poem constructs an emotionally charged world where human fragility and celestial imagery merge, culminating in an unforgettable tribute to the beloved city.
First Couplet: "萧娘脸薄难胜泪，桃叶眉尖易觉愁。"
Xiāo niáng liǎn báo nán shèng lèi, táo yè méi jiān yì jué chóu.
Frail as dawn mist, Lady Xiao's cheeks
Can't bear farewell's weight of tears—
Peach-leaf brows arch so delicately,
They tremble with unspoken fears.
The poet etches fragility itself: cheeks too delicate (脸薄) to withstand grief's torrent, brows shaped like willow-leaf blades (桃叶眉) that quiver with visible sorrow. This portrait transforms the maiden into embodied melancholy—her very anatomy conspiring against composure.
Second Couplet: "天下三分明月夜，二分无赖是扬州。"
Tiānxià sān fēn míngyuè yè, èr fēn wúlài shì Yángzhōu.
Should all the moonlight in the world
Divide in three parts clear,
Two reckless shares—wayward, bright—
Would drench Yangzhou alone here.
Here, celestial mathematics elevates nostalgia to mythic scale. The moon becomes liquid longing, its "reckless" (无赖) abundance flooding Yangzhou with silver—as if the city itself were the night's chosen beloved. This alchemy of light and memory birthed one of Chinese poetry's most enduring metaphors.
Holistic Appreciation
The poem ultimately conveys profound nostalgia for Yangzhou and lingering affection for its people and places. The first two lines introduce the image of "Lady Xiao" to evoke the sorrow of parting, setting an emotional foundation, while the latter two lines elevate this sentiment through the moon's symbolism, transforming personal longing into an infinite yearning for Yangzhou itself. This progression—from person to place, from the immediate to the distant—showcases the poet's mastery of vivid imagery and hyperbolic metaphor, compressing rich emotion into just four lines. Here, Yangzhou transcends geography, becoming an inseparable fragment of memory, and the moon emerges as an emblem of tender longing. By moving from the concrete to the abstract, and from personal experience to universal emotion, the poem achieves remarkable depth within its brevity.
Artistic Merits
The poem is marked by concise language, distilled imagery, and understated yet potent emotion. The poet deftly uses character portrayal to convey separation's ache, then employs the "bright moon" as a symbol of yearning. The hyperbolic notion that "two-thirds of its light belongs to Yangzhou" imbues the city with profound emotional weight. Within its compact form lies deep sentiment; within its restraint, ingenuity—a testament to the artistic brilliance of Tang quatrains.
Insights
This poem reminds us that truly moving poetry often eschews grand spectacle in favor of nuanced emotional resonance. Through a lady's sorrow and the moon's radiance, the poet expresses an abiding attachment to a city, rendering Yangzhou unforgettable under the interplay of moonlight and melancholy. It teaches us that emotion can be conveyed subtly yet powerfully—through symbolism and imagination, subjective feeling can be transmuted into vivid artistic conception, allowing even the briefest verse to linger in the heart with enduring poignancy.
Poem translator
Xu Yuanchong (许渊冲)
About the Poet
Xu Ning(徐凝, dates unknown), a Tang Dynasty poet from Muzhou (present-day Jiande, Zhejiang), was primarily active during the Yuanhe to Dahe eras (806-835). He associated with literary figures such as Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen. Excelling in seven-character quatrains, his poetry is celebrated for its lucid and natural style. The Complete Tang Poems preserves one volume of his works. His masterpiece "Remembering Yangzhou" stands as an immortal quatrain in Chinese literary history.
