English Rendering
Too young to have learned what sorrow means,
Attired for spring, she climbs to her high chamber....
The new green of the street-willows is wounding her heart --
Just for a title she sent him to war.
In Her Quiet Window
- Poetry of Wang Changling
《闺怨》
Original Text (中文原文)
闺中少妇不知愁，春日凝妆上翠楼。
忽见陌头杨柳色，悔教夫婿觅封侯。
Analysis & Context
Seven-character-quatrain
Wang Changling: 王昌龄(AD698-757),he's a great poet in Tang dynasty.He's good at writing those heroic and warlike poems,but sometimes,he always writes some love poems.
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.
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