Poems on the handkerchief (3 poems)
- Poetry of Cao Xueqin

《黛玉题帕诗三首》

- Last updated: 2024-03-22 20:48:01

Poems on the handkerchief (3 poems) by Cao Xueqin
中文原文

其一

眼空蓄泪泪空垂，暗洒闲抛却为谁？

尺幅鲛鮹劳解赠，叫人焉得不伤悲！

其二

抛珠滚玉只偷潸，镇日无心镇日闲；

枕上袖边难拂拭，任他点点与斑斑。

其三

彩线难收面上珠，湘江旧迹已模糊；

窗前亦有千竿竹，不识香痕渍也无？

English Translation

1

Tears i choke back,

for whom i collect them carefully?

Thanks for your handkerchief,

let me have the space to say my love words.

2

I only dare to shed the tears stealthily,

nothing could i do but miss your beauty.

Tearstains on my pillow and sleeve,

how could i bear to wipe them when they're my all love to you?

3

Sorry,i couldn't stop my crying,tearstains are still very fresh.

Blue bamboos in the forest wind blows,

if you didn't know my love,have you smelt the fragrance of my heartbreak?

Cao Xueqin:曹雪芹(AD1715-1763),the greatest novelist and best genius in Chinese literature.He was born in a noble family,but when he was 13 years old,his families was persecuted for involving in the royal coup.So he fell from the heaven and finally saw the true side of the Qing Empire.He started to try to write a novel to document this depraved period.From 1744-1753,he spent 10 years to write the best novel in China"Dream of the Red Chamber"《( 红楼梦》).This novel is the proud of the whole China,it represented the top level and aesthetics of Chinese Literature.Meantime,this novel is a "Venus de Milo",the last 40 chapters have lost in the history,no one knows the real ending of this novel.It makes this novel become very mysterious and glamorous.People created a school to research this novel,it called "Red School"(红学).

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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.

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