游园不值
An Unsuccessful Visit to a Garden
Original
应怜屐齿印苍苔，
小扣柴扉久不开。
春色满园关不住，
一枝红杏出墙来。
Translation
I fear my clog soles have marked the green moss;
I tap the wicker gate, but it stays shut long;
The garden’s full spring can never be confined;
A red apricot branch peeps over the wall.
Line by Line Analysis
About This Poem
This poem traces the poet’s emotional arc from mild disappointment to unexpected delight. Arriving at a friend’s garden eager to admire spring’s beauty, he knocks gently repeatedly only to find the wicker gate locked. Just as he feels let down, a red apricot branch stretching over the wall catches his eye, revealing the vibrant, unstoppable spring inside. Set in the Southern Song Dynasty, when literati often sought solace in nature amid political tensions, the poem conveys a profound truth: the irrepressible vitality of life cannot be contained by any barrier, symbolizing that beautiful, life-giving forces will always find a way to emerge, resonating with universal yearnings for freedom and natural triumph over confinement.
About the Poet
叶绍翁
Yè Shàowēng
Ye Shaoweng (c. 1194 – c. 1269) was a celebrated poet of the Southern Song Dynasty in China, affiliated with the River and Lake School of poetry. He specialized in seven-character quatrains, focusing on capturing delicate daily moments with fresh, vivid imagery. His works often weave gentle wit with deep observations of nature and human life, earning enduring popularity for their simplicity and subtle philosophical undertones.
Cultural & Historical Context
Historically, this poem emerged in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), an era where the imperial court retreated to southern China after losing northern lands to foreign invaders, fostering a cultural climate where literati turned to nature for refuge from political frustrations. Culturally, it inherits China’s age-old poetic tradition of using natural imagery to express subtle emotions and philosophy, choosing the seven-character quatrain for its concise, lyrical power. Socially, Ye Shaoweng was part of the River and Lake School, a group of wandering commoner poets who relied on friendships and travel, making garden visits a typical social and literary pastime. Personally, Ye’s frequent travels and interactions with fellow scholars likely inspired this work, rooted in a real experience of being denied entry to a friend’s garden. His creative purpose was to convey the universal truth that vibrant life cannot be confined, employing artistic features like emotional contrast—from quiet disappointment to sudden joy—and metaphor, where the apricot branch symbolizes unconfined vitality, achieving profound philosophical resonance through a small, intimate daily scene.