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Gold-Threaded Robe, Du Qiuniang (Tang Shi #320)
Friday, 26 July 2019 13:59I urge my lord, don’t cherish this gold-threaded robe—
I urge my lord to cherish now the years of youth.
When blossoms can be picked, you must just pick them—
Don’t wait till there’s no flowers to pick the empty branch.
金缕衣
劝君莫惜金缕衣，
劝君惜取少年时。
花开堪折直须折，
莫待无花空折枝。
Jumping ahead to the last poem because it’s the only one in this edition attributed to a woman. Addressed as a concubine to her husband, and the titular robe stands for pursuing an official career. FWIW, as a military governor, her husband rebelled against the emperor in 807 and was executed, after which she was made an imperial concubine.
It’s easy to read this as urging him to cherish his own youth, but given he was likely rather older than her (he was 66 when he rebelled), I hear cherishing her youth as an undertone.
—L.
I urge my lord to cherish now the years of youth.
When blossoms can be picked, you must just pick them—
Don’t wait till there’s no flowers to pick the empty branch.
金缕衣
劝君莫惜金缕衣，
劝君惜取少年时。
花开堪折直须折，
莫待无花空折枝。
Jumping ahead to the last poem because it’s the only one in this edition attributed to a woman. Addressed as a concubine to her husband, and the titular robe stands for pursuing an official career. FWIW, as a military governor, her husband rebelled against the emperor in 807 and was executed, after which she was made an imperial concubine.
It’s easy to read this as urging him to cherish his own youth, but given he was likely rather older than her (he was 66 when he rebelled), I hear cherishing her youth as an undertone.
—L.