English Rendering
When the moonlight, reaching a tree by the gate,
Shows her a quiet bird on its nest,
She removes her jade hairpins and sits in the shadow
And puts out a flame where a moth was flying.
To My Wife
- Poetry of Zhang Hu
《赠内人》
Original Text (中文原文)
禁门宫树月痕过，媚眼惟看宿鹭窠。
斜拔玉钗灯影畔，剔开红焰救飞蛾。
Analysis & Context
Seven-character-quatrain
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.
- She Sings an Old Song
- At Nanjing Ferry
- On the Terrace of Assembled Angels II
- On the Terrace of Assembled Angels I
- To My Wife
- The Summit Temple
- <Prelude to Water Melody> Sent to Ziyou on Mid-autumn Festival
- Invitation to Wine
- Question and Answer in the Mountains
- Cold sheet
- Coming Home ( Returning Home )
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