Huang Ĕ (1498–1569)
Pearl-teardrops roll and gather,
water in the inkstone;
broken-hearted, how can I write
broken-hearted poems?
Ever since that distant day
when we last held hands
right to this time I’ve been too lazy
to paint in my eyebrows.
There is no medicine that can cure
my grief through the long nights;
I do have money, but can’t buy back
the time when we were young!
Earnestly I entrust my message to the mountain birds:
soon, fly down, south of the river,
urge him to return!
Translated by Jonathan Chaves
This poem is by Huang Ě, the second wife of Yang Shen (see selection 117). From a respectable family, she was well educated.