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Yen Shu (991–1055) was from Fuchou in Kiangsi province. Despite growing up poor he managed to receive a good education, and his home in Kaifeng became a meeting place for the poets of his day. He eventually reached the post of prime minister. But only the ruthless hold power for long, and he spent his last decade in provincial posts. Here, he recalls an extramarital affair in late spring. The walls of a woman’s carriage consisted of waterproof material, and the gorge clouds refer to the Sorceress of the Yangtze Gorges, whose name and cloud-wreathed image were associated with romantic liaisons, especially those that were impossible to maintain. Fires, even those for heating wine, were forbidden during the two days in April preceding Chingming, or Grave Sweeping Day.

Private Thoughts

YEN SHU

Her lacquered carriage no longer arrives

where do gorge clouds go when they vanish

a pear-blossom courtyard in waves of moonlight

a willow-lined pond in the lightest of winds

so many days of loneliness and drinking

and now desolation and no stove fire

I’d send a letter in a fish if I could

but everywhere rivers and mountains are endless