行香子·北望平川To the wild north we go

To the wild north we go

(Upon returning late with Governor Liu from Mt South)

 --to the tune of Xingxiangzi

Chinese original by Su Shi (11th AC, social name 'Dongpo')

English version by Julia Min (Jun.2025)

To the wild north we go,

galloping across ponds and pools,

over winding streams, shallow ripples

for a feast of early spring views.

With wine come many toasts.

Cheers of joy go over the moon—

Long sleeves dancing in the breeze,

Subtle scent swirling the hair loops.

On flying geese, the sunset softly glows.

Soon, the crystal sky reclaims quietude.

Home we go, but one stays behind, alone,

Watching us cross a bridge over a light pool.

For Appreciation:

December 7, 1084. Su Shi and Governor Liu Shiyan of Sizhou had spent the day roaming Mount South in Xuyi. As twilight fell, this poem came—spontaneous as laughter, light as the breeze that opens it.

The first lines gallop. We are instantly swept into the joy of a spring outing: ponds and streams, ripples and views. Two friends searching for beauty together, the suburban water landscape glistening around them.

Up on the mountain, a pavilion welcomed them. Wine flowed. Sleeves danced. Entertainers added music and swirling scents. Laughter echoed through white clouds. Nature and humanity, perfectly at ease.

Then comes the evening. Geese cross the sunset. The sky reclaims its quiet. Time to go home.

But someone stays behind. Alone on the mountain, feasting on the glimmering lights under the bridge where the governor and his followers were crossing.

It is the same pensive mood Wordsworth would capture centuries later: "the bliss of solitude", where joy, already lived, now "flashes upon that inward eye." The watcher on Mount South is not sad—just present, letting the day replay one last time as the lights flicker home.

The poem gives us no lesson. Just this: a lovely day, and someone wise enough to watch it fade, knowing that pleasure fills the heart again—long after the dancing ends.

行香子·北望平川 

(与泗守过南山晚归作)

原作: 苏轼（字子瞻, 号东坡居士; 11世纪北宋）

英译及赏析: 闵晓红(2025)

北望平川，野水荒湾。

共寻春、飞步孱颜。

和风弄袖，香雾萦鬟。

正酒酣时，人语笑，白云间。

飞鸿落照，相将归去。

淡娟娟、玉宇清闲。

何人无事，宴坐空山。

望长桥上，灯火乱，使君还。

Reference:

1. baike.baidu.com

2. picture from google

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