Listen on Suno Li Qingzhao (Song dynasty; ca. 1084–1155) was a rare female poet in the male-dominated ci tradition, writing from her own lived experience. This poem shifts attention away from politics and idealized love toward bodily discomfort, loneliness, and everyday sensations, demonstrating that women’s experiences could function as legitimate poetic subjects. It is now valued as a female articulation of sensory time.