When I left, the willows swayed; now I return through thick falling snow.
Tips
history
霏 is not used independently in modern Chinese; it survives in the reduplication 霏霏 (snow or rain falling thickly), made famous by the 诗经 line 雨雪霏霏, and in 烟霏 (drifting mist). It joins the rain radical 雨 with the phonetic 非.
register
Literary and bound; appears in classical verse and the set form 霏霏, not as a free word in modern speech.
