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lnhammerETA: Fixed text mangled by hasty editing on phone.
The girl Luo Fu in the land of Qin
Picks mulberry leaves by the blue water:
Her plain white hands above green branches,
Rosy complexion fresh in the sun.
"The silkworms hunger—this one must go—
Your five fine horses must not tarry here.”
春歌
秦地罗敷女，
采桑绿水边。
素手青条上，
红妆白日鲜。
蚕饥妾欲去，
五马莫留连。
The first of a set of four poems. Ziye (“Lady Midnight”) is the name given to a style of poetry supposedly originated by a Southern Jin Dynasty singer (or possibly courtesan). The traditional original collection was organized in four seasonal sections, and so most imitations were too.
Qin roughly corresponds to modern Shaanxi province—and while in ancient times, it was considered the periphery of the Chinese heartland by the central Yellow River plains, it includes the Tang capital region of Chang’an, so not necessarily as rustic as the connotation suggests. Mulberry leaves were and still are fed to silkworms in the spring. A five-horse carriage was used only by high-ranked officials.
—L.
The girl Luo Fu in the land of Qin
Picks mulberry leaves by the blue water:
Her plain white hands above green branches,
Rosy complexion fresh in the sun.
"The silkworms hunger—this one must go—
Your five fine horses must not tarry here.”
春歌
秦地罗敷女，
采桑绿水边。
素手青条上，
红妆白日鲜。
蚕饥妾欲去，
五马莫留连。
The first of a set of four poems. Ziye (“Lady Midnight”) is the name given to a style of poetry supposedly originated by a Southern Jin Dynasty singer (or possibly courtesan). The traditional original collection was organized in four seasonal sections, and so most imitations were too.
Qin roughly corresponds to modern Shaanxi province—and while in ancient times, it was considered the periphery of the Chinese heartland by the central Yellow River plains, it includes the Tang capital region of Chang’an, so not necessarily as rustic as the connotation suggests. Mulberry leaves were and still are fed to silkworms in the spring. A five-horse carriage was used only by high-ranked officials.
—L.