— Xue Tao
Petal by petal you fell in late spring last year;
Since you are gone, my paper’s wet with tear on tear.
I am afraid you’d vanish like cloud in a dream.
How can I wish to see you on Peach Blossom Stream?
Your fragrance sweet reveals you have a loving heart;
Your silence shows we know each other far apart.
By the side of your balustrade I’d only sleep;
To tell you how I long for you when night is deep.
Note
Xue Tao (c. 768–832 CE) was one of the most celebrated female poets of the Tang Dynasty – a gifted courtesan, calligrapher, and intellectual known as a “talented woman who painted her eyebrows” (saomei caizi). She frequently exchanged poems with literary luminaries of her time, but the person who truly captured her heart was Yuan Zhen, a leading figure of the New Yuefu (New Music Bureau) poetry movement.
In the spring of 809 CE, during the Yuanhe era of Emperor Xianzong, Yuan Zhen – then serving as an Imperial Censor – was sent on an official mission to Shu (modern-day Sichuan). Already familiar with each other’s reputations, they met with mutual admiration. Their deep conversations and poetic exchanges quickly forged a profound emotional and intellectual bond. When it came time to part, Yuan Zhen returned to the capital, and Xue Tao composed “Peony” (The Peony Flower or Mu Dan) as a farewell gift – a tender, layered expression of love, fear of loss, and hope for reunion.
The poem is not merely a floral ode but a veiled love letter. She recalls how last spring the peonies fell at season’s end, and she wept onto red-lettered paper (a reference to her famed “Xue Tao Paper”), grieving their impending separation. She feared their connection would vanish like the fleeting clouds of Wu Gorge – but now, having shared this brief yet intense time together, their reunion feels as miraculous as the lovers’ second chance in the Peach Blossom Spring (Wuling) legend.
Through the peony’s fragrance, they communicate without words; in the final lines, she imagines placing a pillow by the flower bed to whisper secrets of longing through the night. Blending personal emotion with classical allusion, Xue Tao transforms the peony into both symbol and confidante – an enduring emblem of a love that bloomed briefly but left an indelible mark.
牡丹
— 薛涛
去春零落暮春时，
泪湿红笺怨别离。
常恐便同巫峡散，
因何重有武陵期？
传情每向馨香得，
不语还应彼此知。
只欲栏边安枕席，
夜深闲共说相思。
Leave a Reply