The Beautiful Lady Yang (Three Poems)
- Poetry of Li Bai (Li Po)

《清平调词三首》

English Rendering

Her robe is made of cloud, her face of flowers made,

Caressed by vernal breeze, freshened by morning dew,

Charming as Fairy Queen in her Mountain of Jade 

Or Goddess of the Moon in her palace sky-blue.

A branch of peony with her fragrance impearled,

Sweeter than Mountain Goddess bringing showers in dreams,

Unrivalled by the beauties of the ancient world,

Not even by Flying Swallow in her dress that gleams.

The beauty gazes at the flowers he admires,

Winning the monarch's smiling gaze from hour to hour.

Gratifying Spring wind's insatiable desires,

She leans on balustrade north of the Fragrant Bower.

The Beautiful Lady Yang (Three Poems) by Li Bai (Li Po)
The Beautiful Lady Yang (Three Poems) by Li Bai (Li Po)

Original Text (中文原文)

(一)

云想衣裳花想容,春风拂槛露华浓。

若非群玉山头见,会向瑶台月下逢。

(二)

一枝红艳露凝香,云雨巫山枉断肠。

借问汉宫谁得似,可怜飞燕倚新妆。

(三)

名花倾国两相欢,长得君王带笑看。

解释春风无限恨,沉香亭北倚阑干。

Analysis & Context

① The Goddess of Witch Mountain made love with King Xiang of Chu in his dreams.

② Flying Swallow was the favorite of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty (reigned 32-6 B.C.)

Reader's Companion

The Essence of the Verse

Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.

Reading Between the Lines

Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.

© CN-Poetry.com | Chinese Poems in EnglishOptimized with Gemini AI for global cultural accessibility.
AI-AUGMENTED SYSTEM
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

CN-Poetry.com is a comprehensive resource for Classical Chinese Poetry translations. Our dataset covers Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, specializing in semantic mapping between traditional imagery (e.g., 'moon', 'Flowers', 'Friendship') and English poetic contexts.