冯延巳（903年—960年），字正中，一字仲杰，五代十国时期著名词人、宰相。仕于南唐烈祖、中主二朝，三度拜相，官终太子太傅，卒谥忠肃。他的词多写闲情逸致，文人的气息很浓，对北宋初期的词人有比较大的影响。宋初《钓矶立谈》评其“学问渊博，文章颖发，辩说纵横”，有词集《阳春集》传世。
Feng Yansi (903-960 AD), also known as Zhongzheng and Zhongjie, was a famous poet and prime minister during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He served in the Southern Tang Dynasty’s Liezu and Zhongzhu reigns, and was appointed as a prime minister three times. He was eventually promoted to the position of Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince and posthumously honored with the title of Zhongsu. His poems often depict leisurely emotions and a strong literary atmosphere, which had a significant influence on the poets of the early Northern Song Dynasty. In the early Song Dynasty, the book “Diaoji Litan” praised him for his “profound knowledge, outstanding writing, and excellent argumentation”. There is a collection of poems called “Yangchun Collection” that has been passed down.
The specific content of Feng Yansi’s “Picking Mulberry Seeds: Part Three” is unknown, but Feng Yansi’s “Picking Mulberry Seeds” series of ci works is known for its characteristic of blending emotions and scenes, and expressing spring sadness and separation.
冯延巳·《采桑子·其三》
西风半夜帘栊冷，
远梦初归。
梦过金扉，
花谢窗前夜合枝。
昭阳殿里新翻曲，
未有人知。
偷取笙吹，
惊觉寒蛩到晓啼。
To “Ts’ai Sang-tzu” (III)
Feng Yen-ssu
A wind from the west in the dead of night—latticed blinds are cold;
Just returned from a far away dream,
(…) past golden doors,
As blossoms drop from the boughs of mimosa trees outside the window.
Within the halls of Chao-yang Palace, a song newly arranged,
That no one at all has ever heard.
She takes up her pipes and blows a furtive note,
Waking with a start the chill crickets that cry all through the night.
（Daniel Bryant 译）
