宋 Song · 诗 Poem
春暮游小园
Visiting the Small Garden at Late Spring
一从梅粉褪残妆，涂抹新红上海棠。
开到荼蘼花事了，丝丝天棘出莓墙。
New red is daubed onto the crabapple.
When the tu mi blooms, the flower-tale is done,
And thread by thread the bramble-vine creeps over the mossy wall.
Meaning
The poem traces the shift of flowers in a small garden from plum to crabapple to the last raspberries, lingering on the melancholy of spring's passing.
自打梅花褪去那残妆般的粉白，便又涂抹新红点染在海棠枝上。等到荼蘼花开尽，春事也就完了，只有丝丝天棘蔓出了莓苔墙头。
Appreciation
Personifying the flowers as a succession of beauties—plum shedding its 'makeup,' crabapple receiving 'new red'—the poem turns the turning of the seasons into a quiet drama. The pivot at 'when the tu mi blooms, the tale is done' seals spring's end with a single, exquisite line. The closing image of the bramble creeping over the mossy wall is delicate and faintly sorrowful, leaving the reader with the gentle ache of things that fade.
【白话串讲】 “一从梅粉褪残妆，涂抹新红上海棠”——王淇写春暮：梅花谢了，海棠红。“开到荼蘼花事了，丝丝天棘出莓墙”——荼蘼开完，春天就结束了。“开到荼蘼花事了”，成了说春尽的名句。 【意象与手法】以“褪残妆”“涂抹新红”拟人写花信更替，以“荼蘼花事了”点春归，以“天棘出墙”收束，细腻工巧。 【情感与主旨】写春暮小园花事由盛转衰，流连春光易逝的轻愁。 【名句点睛】“开到荼蘼花事了”——以荼蘼殿春写尽春残，句意工致。
Background
Wang Qi was a Song poet. This poem writes of the changing flower-omens in a small garden at late spring.
《春暮游小园》为宋代王淇所作，是写春暮游园、荼蘼花事的诗。王淇（生卒年不详），字君玉，宋代诗人。此诗：一从梅粉褪残妆，涂抹新红上海棠。开到荼蘼花事了，丝丝天棘出莓墙。全诗写春暮游园、荼蘼花事，是王淇诗的名篇。
Art
Personification (spent makeup, daubed new red), writing the seasons through flowers.
《春暮游小园》艺术上以春暮花事的描摹与花事将了的感叹见长。全诗四句：首写梅粉海棠——“一从梅粉褪残妆，涂抹新红上海棠”写一从梅粉褪残妆、涂抹新红上海棠；末写荼蘼天棘——“开到荼蘼花事了，丝丝天棘出莓墙”写开到荼蘼花事了、丝丝天棘出莓墙。全诗以春暮花事写花事将了，正是王淇诗感叹的笔法。
Allusions
'Tu mi' (raspberry/roseleaf bramble) is the flower that closes the spring; Song people said 'when the tu mi blooms, the flower-tale is done.'
《春暮游小园》用典在“梅粉”“残妆”“海棠”“荼蘼”“花事了”“天棘”“莓墙”。“梅粉”写梅粉（梅花粉红）；“残妆”写残妆；“海棠”写海棠；“荼蘼”用荼蘼之典（荼蘼花开春事尽）；“花事了”写花事了；“天棘”写天棘（天门冬蔓）；“莓墙”写莓墙（莓苔之墙）。全诗以这些意象写春暮游园、荼蘼花事，用典自然而感叹自见，正是王淇诗的笔法。
Commentary
Earlier readers admired it for 'writing spring's departure through flowers, delicate as a painting.'
《春暮游小园》是王淇诗的名篇，也是宋诗中写春暮花事的代表作。此诗写春暮游园、荼蘼花事，向为论者称道。论者多赏其春暮花事的描摹与花事将了的感叹——“一从梅粉褪残妆，涂抹新红上海棠”写一从梅粉褪残妆、涂抹新红上海棠，感叹之极；“开到荼蘼花事了，丝丝天棘出莓墙”用荼蘼之典写开到荼蘼花事了、丝丝天棘出莓墙，更见其慨。王淇此诗以荼蘼花事写春之将尽，正是其代表——以春暮花事写花事将了，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
一从梅粉褪残妆，涂抹新红上海棠。
Since the plum powder faded its leftover rouge, new red has been painted upon the crabapple.
一从梅粉褪残妆，涂抹新红上海棠。
Since the plum blossom's powder faded its leftover rouge, new red has been painted on the crabapple.
首写一从梅粉褪残妆、涂抹新红上海棠，是全诗写春暮花事的起点。“一从梅粉褪残妆”写一从梅粉褪残妆——“一从梅粉褪残妆”写自从梅花褪去残妆——一从梅粉褪残妆；“涂抹新红上海棠”写涂抹新红上海棠——“涂抹新红上海棠”写涂抹新红、开到海棠——涂抹新红上海棠。二句写一从梅粉褪残妆、涂抹新红上海棠：一从梅粉褪残妆，涂抹新红上海棠。以“一从梅粉褪残妆”写梅粉褪妆、梅花已谢，以“涂抹新红上海棠”写涂抹新红、海棠初开，正是王淇诗写春暮花事的起点——梅褪残妆，新红海棠。
The opening writes the plum-powder-fade and new-red-on-crabapple, the whole poem's late-spring-flower-affair start. The since-the-plum-powder-faded-its-leftover-rouge writing the plum blossom's faded toilet; the new-red-has-been-painted-upon-the-crabapple writing the new red's bloom and the crabapple's opening. Two lines writing the plum's faded rouge and the crabapple's new red: the plum faded, the crabapple newly red. Using the plum-powder-fade for the plum's faded bloom, and the new-red-on-crabapple for the crabapple's first opening, precisely Wang Qi's late-spring-flower-affair start — the plum's faded, the crabapple's newly red.
开到荼蘼花事了，丝丝天棘出莓墙。
When the bower blooms, the flower season is done; fine threads of the nightshade creep over the mossy wall.
开到荼蘼花事了，丝丝天棘出莓墙。
When the bower's bloom opens, the flower season ends; fine threads of nightshade creep over the mossy wall.
末用荼蘼之典写开到荼蘼花事了、丝丝天棘出莓墙，是全诗写花事将了的归结。“开到荼蘼花事了”用荼蘼之典写开到荼蘼花事了——“开到荼蘼花事了”用荼蘼花尽春事之典写开到荼蘼、花事已了——开到荼蘼花事了；“丝丝天棘出莓墙”写丝丝天棘出莓墙——“丝丝天棘出莓墙”写丝丝天棘、探出莓墙——丝丝天棘出莓墙。二句写开到荼蘼花事了、丝丝天棘出莓墙：开到荼蘼花事了，丝丝天棘出莓墙。以“开到荼蘼花事了”用荼蘼之典写荼蘼开后、花事已了，以“丝丝天棘出莓墙”写丝丝天棘、探出莓墙，正是王淇诗写花事将了的归结——荼蘼事了，天棘出墙。
The close uses the bower allusion for the bower-in-bloom-and-the-flower-season's-done and fine-threads-nightshade-on-mossy-wall, the whole poem's flower-season's-about-to-end close. The when-the-bower's-bloom-opens-the-flower-season-is-done using the bower flower-end-of-spring allusion; the fine-threads-of-nightshade-creep-over-the-mossy-wall writing the fine creepers over the wall. Two lines writing the bower's end and the nightshade threads: the bower's bloom, the wall's creepers. Using the bower-allusion for the after-bower-bloom's flower-season's-end, and the fine-threads for the wall's emergence, precisely Wang Qi's flower-season's-about-to-end close — the bower's done, the nightshade's over the wall.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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