The poem ‘Like a Dream: Willow catkins’ is a poem from the Qing Dynasty, written by Cao Xueqin. This is written by the character Shi Xiangyun in Cao Xueqin’s “Dream of the Red Chamber” and is one of the five willow catkins poems. Shi Xiangyun saw the fluttering willow catkins in late spring and accidentally became a messenger. The poetry society initiated the writing of lyrics, with each person reciting a small tune and completing it within a limited time. Shi Xiangyun wrote this poem ‘Like a Dream: Willow catkins’. The five willow catkins are actually everyone’s own future situation. Xiangyun later married Wei Ruolan, and their marriage was happy, so the lyrics do not acknowledge that the willow catkins used to express affection are a scene of decline. For her happiness, some people may feel pain and sadness, while others may envy and jealousy, which is also natural. Her parents have both passed away, and she is living in the Jia family. There may be fewer people who care about her lifelong affairs. She claims to have “picked her own delicate hand” and always gathers “Golden Qilin” as a token based on some meeting opportunity. In Chapter 14, when officials and guests were paying respects to the Qin family, they introduced Wei Ruolan as a “prince of various princes and grandsons”. This shows that the so-called “talented and beautiful immortal man” must also be based on his rank and social status as a prerequisite. It cannot be imagined that a noble and noble daughter like Shi Xiangyun would choose a lowly person as her husband solely based on his talent and appearance. In the words, she changed from ‘occupying spring’ to ‘cherishing spring’ and ‘keeping spring’, and her emotions were so helpless, which indicates that her so-called happy marriage will not last long.
《如梦令·柳絮词》是清朝时期的一首词，作者是曹雪芹。此为曹雪芹《红楼梦》中人物 史湘云 所作，为五首柳絮词之一。史湘云见暮春柳絮飞舞，偶成小令。诗社就发起填词，每人各拈一小调，限时做好。史湘云写的就是这首《如梦令·柳絮》。 五首柳絮词其实都是每个人未来的自况。湘云后来与 卫若兰 结合，新婚是美满的，所以词中不承认用以寄情的柳絮是衰残景象。对于她的幸福，有人可能会触痛伤感，有人可能会羡慕妒忌，这也是很自然的。她父母双亡，寄居贾府，关心她终身大事的人可能少些，她自诩”纤手自拈来”，总是凭某种见面机会以”金麒麟”为信物而凑成的。十四回写官客为秦氏送殡时曾介绍卫若兰是”诸王孙公子”，可见所谓”才貌仙郎”也必须以爵禄门第为先决条件，不能想象如史湘云那样的公侯千金会单凭才貌选择一个地位卑贱的人作为自己的丈夫。词中从占春一转而为惜春、留春，而且情绪上是那样地无可奈何，这正预示着她的所谓美满婚姻也是好景不长的。
《红楼梦》·《柳絮词·如梦令》
岂是绣绒残吐，
卷起半帘香雾，
纤手自拈来，
空使鹃啼燕妒。
且住，
且住！
莫放春光别去。
Ru-meng-ling（David Hawkes 译）
Not chewed-off ends of the sky’s embroidery?
“What are they?”—”Raise the blind a bit and see.”
A white hand snatches some and draws it in, pursued by the swallows’ chiding din.
Oh stay, oh stay!
The lovely spring drifts after you away.
“Like a dream” air（B. S. Bonsall 译）
Surely it is not embroidered floss just now opening out.
Roll up half a corner of the fragrant mist.
The slender hand instinctively picks some,
Unintentionally making the night jar scream and the swallow jealous.
But stop, but stop. Make not the Spring light go elsewhere.
Rumengling（杨宪益、戴乃迭 译）
Boughs with silk floss entwined
Or sweet mist glimpsed through a half rolled-up blind?
As slender fingers with the catkins play,
Cuckoo and swallow cry out in dismay:
Stop, pray! Do stay!
Don’t let spring steal away.
