Extended Washing Creek Sand: Lotus Fragrance Fades
The lotus fragrance is spent, the green leaves withered; the west wind stirs grief among the green waves. With the passing season, I too grow haggard—too painful to behold.
I wake from a dream to the sound of fine rain; the one I long for is still far away at the frontier. In the little tower the jade sheng sounds on, cold and forlorn. So many tears, such boundless sorrow—I lean upon the railing.
Reading notes
In the reading adopted here, longing carries the absent loved one into the speaker’s dreams. On waking amid fine rain, the speaker feels their separation again: the loved one remains far away at the frontier. The cold notes of the sheng, tears and the final image of leaning on the railing carry this longing through the rest of the lyric. The poem leaves the dream’s precise scene unstated. Jisai evokes a distant frontier post. 何限恨 also appears as 无限恨; other versions vary 绿波, 韶光 and 鸡塞远. This page retains the wording shown above.