Social Commentaries
A Poor Girl
Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu (1929) · From The Jade Mountain (1929)
Living under a thatch roof, never wearing fragrant silk,
She longs to arrange a marriage, but how could she dare?
Who would know her simple face the loveliest of them all
When we choose for worldliness, not for worth?
Her fingers embroider beyond compare,
But she cannot vie with painted brows;
And year after year she has sewn gold thread
On bridal robes for other girls.
Cite this poem
MLA
T’ao-yü, Ch’in. “A Poor Girl.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/chin-tao-yu/1/.
Chicago
T’ao-yü, Ch’in. “A Poor Girl.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/chin-tao-yu/1/.
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