A Song of the Palace
- Poetry of Zhu Qingyu

《宫中词》

- Last updated: 2024-05-15 10:32:04

中文原文

寂寂花时闭院门，美人相并立琼轩。

含情欲说宫中事，鹦鹉前头不敢言。

English Translation

Now that the palace-gate has softly closed on its flowers,

Ladies file out to their pavilion of jade,

Abrim to the lips with imperial gossip

But not daring to breathe it with a parrot among them.

Seven-character-quatrain

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.

List of Chinese poets