Shen Yue (Chinese: 沈約; 441–513), courtesy name Xiuwen (休文), was a poet, statesman, and historian born in Huzhou, Zhejiang. He served emperors under the Liu Song Dynasty, the Southern Qi Dynasty, and the Liang Dynasty.
He was a prominent scholar of the Liang Dynasty and the author of the Book of Song, an historical work covering the history of the previous Liu Song Dynasty. He is probably best known as the originator of the first deliberately applied rules of tonal euphony (so called "four tones and eight defects" 四聲八病) in the history of Chinese prosody. He was also the leading scholar on the musical practices of his time and author of the essays on qilin and omenology.
Shen Yue was known for his love of poetry. For example, he wrote a set of poems, called by Burton Watson the Six Poems on Remembering, describing his beloved during six times of the day. The Six Poems on Remembering get fairly close to being specifically erotic, which is rather unusual for Classical Chinese verse (at least as it has been handed down). The verse on remembering her when she sleeps includes the lines:
Walking sadly through the park
I hear crying in the darkness
And thought I act like I cannot hear
Their situation is very clear
A girl who's trying to tell her guy
The time has come that they say good-bye
And his answer tears my heart apart:
Give me tonight
Then if you don't wanna stay
Girl I'll just forget you
You'll see I'm right
You won't get to go away
Love ain't gonna let you
Walking with you through the park
Now it's my voice in the darkness
Just like the girl trying to tell her guy
I'm telling you we must say good-bye
I can't believe when I hear once more
The very words that were said before
Come from deep within your broken heart:
(His voice echoes in the dark
His voice echoes in the dark)
Give me tonight
Then if you don't wanna stay
Girl I'll just forget you
You'll see I'm right
You won't get to go away
Love ain't gonna let you
I'll give you one night
Give me tonight
Then if you don't wanna stay
Girl I'll just forget you
You'll see I'm right
You won't get to go away
Love ain't gonna let you
I'll get you one more night
Give me tonight
Give me tonight
Give me tonight...
His voice echoes in the darkness
[4x]
Give me tonight
Then if you don't wanna stay
Girl I'll just forget you
You'll see I'm right
You won't get to go away