This is a poem written by Su Shi when he was exiled to Huizhou. It shows the friendly relationship with the locals and is also a concrete manifestation of Su Shi’s easy-going personality. It was written in the fourth year of Shaosheng (1097). Not long after, he was exiled to Danzhou (northwest of Hainan Island, which was called Nanning Army in the Song Dynasty and was the most remote and desolate military state at that time). Perhaps it was related to this poem. According to Zeng Jili’s “Tingzhai Poetry Talk” in the Song Dynasty, this poem was seen by Zhang Dun, the prime minister at that time, who thought that Su Shi was so comfortable with his “spring sleep beauty” and was angry and exiled him to Danzhou again.
此为苏轼贬居惠州的一首诗作，表现了与当地人融洽相处的友好关系，也是苏轼随遇而安性格的具体体现。绍圣四年（1097）作。未久即被再贬儋州（海南岛西北，宋为南宁军，在当时是最边远、最荒野的军州）。也许与这首诗有关。据宋曾季狸《艇斋诗话》说这诗给章惇——当时的宰相看见了，以为苏轼这样安逸的“春睡美”，怒而再予谪贬儋州。
《纵笔》 苏轼
白头萧散满霜风，小阁藤床寄病容。
报道先生春睡美，道人轻打五更钟。
An Impromptu Verse
Su Shi
A white-haired man, failing but full of zest,
Rests his ailing limbs on the wicker couch in his small study.
Tell them your master enjoys his sleep in spring,
That the priest may toll his watch softly.
