344 t He y uan, m i ng, anD q i ng Dy na s t i e s
C 1 6. 8
To the Tune “Clear River, a Prelude” [shuangdiao key]:
On Separation, No. 4If I meet him again,
2 This live message I will deliver to him:
Not that I didn’t want to write,
4 Nor that I ain’t talented and bright—
I circled along the Clear River, but could not find a piece of sky-size paper.
[QYSQ 1:370]【雙調】清江引 惜別
([shuāng diào] qīng jiāng yĭn xī bié)
if still with him mutual see time 若還與他相見時 △
(rùo hái yŭ tā xiāng jiàn shí)
speak one true transmit show 道個真傳示 ▲
(dào gè zhēn chuán shì)
not be not write letter 不是不修書
(bú shì bù xiū shū)
not be without talent thought 不是無才思 △
(bú shì wú cái sī)
circle clear river buy not obtain sky kind paper 繞清江買不得天樣紙 ▲
(rào qīng jiāng măi bù dé tiān yàng zhĭ)
The persona is rehearsing what she will say when she sees “him” again: she did not
write to him precisely because she loves him too much! She could not find a piece
of paper large enough to contain all her thoughts and feelings.
Does the girl mean that, had she written to him, her love for him would have
been less? The logic behind her explanation seems hard to follow, but it makes
perfect sense to those in love. The “live message” in line 2 means a spoken “let-
ter.” In the Chinese, the adjective “true” modifies “message.” Not lifeless ink on
paper but the living words from the girl’s mouth, delivered in person with charm,
are what express her true love. Her true and living “letter” will contain so much
love that—if her claim of an attempted purchase of paper is to be believed—its
contents would fill up the space between heaven and earth. The girl’s forceful ar-
gument is itself ample proof that she is not without talent (line 4). No matter how
incredulous her lover might be, one can well imagine that his heart will be tender
with the joy of love when he hears her witty explanation.
Although short, “On Separation, No. 4,” is greatly expressive. Every word, every
image counts. The “if ” at its beginning, for example, tells that what it depicts has
not yet happened. It sets a vivid scene of the persona engaged in intense mental
communication with her lover at the moment when we come upon her. This at-
tests to the truthfulness of the claim she makes, by implication, later: although
she did not write to him, she thinks about him all the time. The “Clear River” in