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Listening to a Zheng, Li Duan (Tang Shi #241)
Tuesday, 4 June 2019 07:35Sounding the zheng with golden bridges,
Bare hands before the jade chamber—
Wanting Master Zhou to turn his head,
She sometimes misplays a note.
听筝
鸣筝金粟柱，
素手玉房前。
欲得周郎顾，
时时误拂弦。
The zheng, like the qin, is a type of zither, but this model has between 12 and 20-odd strings and movable bridges (the Japanese koto and Korean gayageum are direct descendants). The “jade chamber” is a boudoir. This is Li Duan’s only poem in the collection.
(Tried playing with the meter to match the content (though not form) but not sure it’s worth it.)
—L.
Bare hands before the jade chamber—
Wanting Master Zhou to turn his head,
She sometimes misplays a note.
听筝
鸣筝金粟柱，
素手玉房前。
欲得周郎顾，
时时误拂弦。
The zheng, like the qin, is a type of zither, but this model has between 12 and 20-odd strings and movable bridges (the Japanese koto and Korean gayageum are direct descendants). The “jade chamber” is a boudoir. This is Li Duan’s only poem in the collection.
(Tried playing with the meter to match the content (though not form) but not sure it’s worth it.)
—L.