Spring Yearning
By Li Bai (Tang Dynasty)
The spring grass in Northern Yan has just sprouted like verdurous silk threads,
The mulberry trees in Qin’s land have drooped with thick green branches.
The day when you miss home and want to come back,
I've been thinking of you for a long time.
Spring breeze, you and me don’t know each other,
Why do you blow into the silk curtain to make me melancholy?
春思
李白（唐）
燕草如碧丝，秦桑低绿枝。
当君怀归日，是妾断肠时。
春风不相识，何事入罗帏？
Creative background
This poem is about the wife of a military soldier who misses her husband's dream in the bright spring day and hopes for the early victory of the war. It shows the pain of thinking about the border and her firmness in love. The words of the whole poem are simple and unadorned, with a blend of feelings and scenes. The smell of divine bones is elegant and pure, full of folk characteristics.
- Northern Yan: Northern Hebei Province, here it generally refers to the northern border, where the husband is located.
- Qin’s land: It refers to the area of Shaanxi Province, where the wife is located.
About Li Bai
Li Bai (701 ~ 762), with the word Taibai, is called Qinglian monk. He is the great romantic poet of the Tang Dynasty and praised as "poetic Fairy" by later generations.
His poems are mainly lyrical, showing the arrogant spirit of contempt for dignitaries, sympathizing with the sufferings of the people, and good at depicting natural scenery and expressing his love for the mountains and rivers of the motherland.
The poetic style is magnificent and bold, the imagination is rich, the language flows naturally, and the rhythm is harmonious and changeable. He is good at absorbing nutrition and materials from folk literature and legends to form his unique magnificent and gorgeous color, reaching the peak of poetry art in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
Li Bai is called "Li Du" together with Du Fu.
There are more than 1000 surviving poems and 30 volumes of Li Taibai collection.