The Works of Li Qingzhao, Ci Poems 3.33 - 3.40

[x_los]

The fifth instalment of Li Qingzhao’s ci poetry. This book is freely available via De Gruyter's Library of Chinese Humanities in Mandarin and English and via several publication formats, including two open access options (the pdf appears to be better formatted than the ebook). We're reading the poems 3.33 through 3.40, inclusive.
 

How to Read Chinese Poetry has three chapters on the ci forms Li Qingzhao uses here:

 

Chapter 12, Ci Poetry: Short Song Lyrics (Xiaoling) 

Chapter 13, Ci Poetry: Long Song Lyrics (Manci) 

Chapter 14, Ci Poetry: Long Song Lyrics on Objects (Yongwu Ci)

This week, we look at Chapter 14 as recommended additional reading. 

Recall from the introduction that everything after 3.35 is relatively likely to be misattributed.

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Comments

3.33

[x_los]

添字醜奴兒

窗前誰種芭蕉樹
陰滿中庭。
陰滿中庭。
葉葉心心 舒卷有餘情。
傷心枕上三更雨
點滴霖霪。
點滴霖霪。
愁損北人 不慣起來聽。

To the tune “Vile Charmer, Long Version”

Who planted a banana tree in front of the window?
Its shade fills the central courtyard.
Its shade fills the central courtyard.
Leaf after leaf, heart after heart,
folding and unfolding with an excess of feeling.
It grieves the heart, midnight rain heard from my pillow,
dripping leaf to leaf, through a steady drizzle.
Dripping leaf to leaf, through a steady drizzle.
The sadness overwhelms a northerner,
who’s not used to awakening to this sound in the night.

Re: 3.33

[x_los]

interesting and kind of unusual use of repetition to convey a sensory impression

Re: 3.33

[douqi]

The repetition, i'm pretty sure, is a requirement of the tune (Xin Qiji's most famous one, set to the same tune, has the same type of repetition at the same lines).

Re: 3.33

[superborb]

There is apparently an alternate record of this poem that is set to a different tune and doesn't have the repetition and has a bit of rearrangement. I didn't know the tunes were similar enough that their tone rules would make that so easy.