33

Silent at Her Window

Wang Ch’ang-ling (698–756)

Too young to have known the meaning of sorrow,

in her spring dress she climbs the tower chamber.

New leaves on all the willows wound her;

She sent him off to war for nothing but a title.

Translated by Sam Hamill

 

Though from humble circumstances, Wang Ch’ang-ling became a Presented Scholar in 727. He is recognized as a poet as well as an astute esthetician and prosodist.