Tune: “Rapt with Wine, Loudly Singing—Joy in Spring’s Coming” My Love
Kuan Yün-shih (1286–1324)
Natural demeanor warm and soft,
Winsome face demure.
When we chance to meet, her sidelong glances encourage me,
Kindling the pangs of my lovesickness.
Matchmaker bees and go-between butterflies fail to coax her:
Swallows or orioles can’t do as they please.
Just like a sprig of red almond blossoms peeping over a wall
She lies beyond the reach of plucking hand.
How I feel, in vain, that for those blossoms’ sake the wind
and rain bear shame!
Translated by Richard John Lynn
Kuan Yün-shih was a Sinicized Uighur (a Central Asian Turkic people) whose original name was Sävinč Qaya. He was an excellent horseman, hunter, and warrior. After serving briefly in the Mongol military establishment, he became a student of the leading Confucian scholar of his time, Yao Sui (1239–1314). Significantly, he wrote a Vernacular Exegesis on the Classic of Filial Piety and served as tutor to the heir apparent. Toward the end of his life he developed an interest in Zen and alchemy.