Love
A Palace Poem
Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu (1929) · From The Jade Mountain (1929)
In twelve chambers the ladies, decked for the day,
Peer afar for their lord from their Fairy-View Lodge;
The golden toad guards the lock on the door-chain,
And the bronze-dragon water-clock drips through the morning —
Till one of them, tilting a mirror, combs her cloud of hair
And chooses new scent and a change of silk raiment;
For she sees, between screen-panels, deep in the palace,
Eunuchs in court-dress preparing a bed.
Cite this poem
MLA
Fēng, Hsüeh. “A Palace Poem.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/hsueh-feng/0/.
Chicago
Fēng, Hsüeh. “A Palace Poem.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/hsueh-feng/0/.