The palace maids love the fair fragrant trees;
They cut out flowers rivalling flowers early to blow.
When cold is o’er, the use of scissors will cease;
When spring appears, their silken works will grow.
With tender stems their hair-like filaments roll;
Their scented pistils are made of silk white.
Their slender branches are happy in their role
To bend o’er the marble steps in the palace bright.
宫女怜芳树，裁花竞早荣。
寒依刀尺尽，春向绮罗生。
弱蒂盘丝发，香蕤结素成。
纤枝幸不弃，长就玉阶倾。
This poem was written during Shen Quanqi's tenure in the capital, belonging to his early works on courtly themes. Tang dynasty palaces placed great emphasis on floral decorations, and each early spring, palace maidens would cut colorful silk flowers and adorn their robes to celebrate the season—a common scene in the courtly spring landscape. As a court poet, Shen Quanqi excelled at depicting palace scenes and figures with delicate brushstrokes, yet beneath the ornate language, he often embedded philosophical reflections on the impermanence of life and the cycle of prosperity and decline.
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.
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.
Journey through the dynasties. Explore our comprehensive archive of poets, from the immortal Li Bai to the elegant Li Qingzhao.
View All Poets →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.