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Sū Mù ZhēSu Mu Zhe 苏幕遮

Zhou Bangyan (周邦彦, also known as Chou Pang-yen, Qingzhen)｜Northern Song｜ci (song lyric)

Zhou Bangyan on a summer morning: lotus leaves standing up in the wind after rain.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

燎沉香
liáo chén xiāng

消溽暑
xiāo rù shǔ

鸟雀呼晴
niǎo què hū qíng

侵晓窥檐语
qīn xiǎo kuī yán yǔ

叶上初阳干宿雨
yè shàng chū yáng gàn sù yǔ

水面清圆
shuǐ miàn qīng yuán

一一风荷擧
yī yī fēng hé jǔ

Simplified characters; traditional title: 蘇幕遮. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.

Note on the text: This page presents a well-known excerpt; the full poem is longer in the traditional corpus.

Burning agarwood incense

to dispel the muggy heat.

Birds call for clear skies,

peeping at dawn, chattering under the eaves.

On the leaves the first sun dries last night's rain;

on the water, clear and round,

one by one, the lotus leaves lift in the wind.

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

燎沉香 · liáo chén xiāng — Burning agarwood incense

消溽暑 · xiāo rù shǔ — to dispel the muggy heat.

鸟雀呼晴 · niǎo què hū qíng — Birds call for clear skies,

侵晓窥檐语 · qīn xiǎo kuī yán yǔ — peeping at dawn, chattering under the eaves.

叶上初阳干宿雨 · yè shàng chū yáng gàn sù yǔ — On the leaves the first sun dries last night's rain;

水面清圆 · shuǐ miàn qīng yuán — on the water, clear and round,

一一风荷擧 · yī yī fēng hé jǔ — one by one, the lotus leaves lift in the wind.

Zhou Bangyan on a summer morning: lotus leaves standing up in the wind after rain. The scene stays with you.

Zhou Bangyan on a summer morning: lotus leaves standing up in the wind after rain.

Zhou Bangyan is often called the orthodox master of ci.

Lifetime: 1056–1121. Other famous works: Su Mu Zhe (苏幕遮).