302. Qingping Melody (First of Three) | Li Bai
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
云想衣裳花想容，春风拂槛露华浓。
English translation
The clouds make one think of her dress, the flowers of her face; the spring wind brushes the railing, the dewy bloom is rich.
To think of means to call to mind, to seem. The clouds make one think of her dress tells how her robes are light as cloud; the flowers of her face how her looks are as fair as blossoms. The couplet sets off the beauty with clouds, flowers, spring wind, and dew, without describing her features directly. The railing is the balustrade; the dewy bloom is rich means the dew-laden flowers are thick and vivid, hinting that she now holds favor at its height.
Original Chinese text
若非群玉山头见，会向瑶台月下逢。
English translation
If not seen on the peak of Qunyu Mountain, then met beneath the moon at the Yaotai.
Qunyu Mountain, the Mountain of Massed Jade, is the immortal mountain where the Queen Mother of the West lives in myth. The Yaotai, the Jade Terrace, is likewise a legendary dwelling of immortals. If not... then... is a hypothetical turn: such a person could only be met on an immortal mountain or at the Jade Terrace. Seen and met both mean encountering her. The couplet pushes the beauty into fairyland, praising a loveliness not of this world—flattery for the emperor's favored consort, Yang Guifei.
赏析 · Commentary
借云与花写美人 · A Beauty Seen Through Clouds and Flowers
起句“云想衣裳花想容”把衣裳与云、容貌与花相映照：见云如见其衣，见花如见其容。读者沿着这两重联想自行补足人物，比直说“美若天仙”更有余味。春风、露华再加一层，人也就在花光云影里立起来了。
The opening line matches her dress with clouds and her face with flowers: to see clouds is to see her dress, and to see flowers is to see her face. The reader completes the figure through these paired associations, which leaves more resonance than simply calling her divine. Spring wind and dew add another layer, and there she stands amid flower-light and cloud-shadow.
把人写成仙人 · Turning a Person into an Immortal
后两句用群玉山、瑶台两处仙境作比：这样的人物，人间怎会有？只有仙山瑶台才配得上。清平调三首都是应制之作，专为赞美杨贵妃而写。夸得越出尘，越见其歌功颂德的用心。
The closing couplet compares her to two fairylands, Qunyu Mountain and the Yaotai: how could such a person be of the human world? Only an immortal mountain or Jade Terrace could suit her. All three Qingping Melodies were occasional poems written to order, meant to praise Yang Guifei. The more otherworldly the praise, the plainer the intent to flatter.