Imitation: Lament of a Courtesan
- Poetry of Liu Fangping
In Royal Garden, orioles flit, flit through the scene,
At Kunming Lake, lush rushes grow, unseen.
How precious yet how vain spring's glorious hours!
Why face the mirror, cherishing transient flowers?
This work by the Tang Dynasty poet Liu Fangping takes an imagined "Courtesan's Festival" as its theme—not a real holiday, but a scenario personifying the feelings of a singing girl or courtesan, expressing the regret in women's quarters over the passage of time and fading youth. Liu Fangping lived during the Tang Dynasty’s transition from prosperity to decline, an era when many scholars harbored anxieties. He often used persona pieces to convey female perspectives, channeling his own reflections. While the poem superficially depicts spring scenes in the palace gardens and a woman’s emotions, it embodies deeper concerns about the fleetingness of time and the emptiness of life.
上苑离离莺度，昆明幂幂蒲生。
时光春华可惜，何须对镜含情。
- Why Chinese poems is so special?
- The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
- How to read a Chinese poem?
- Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.