Song of the Maiden of Luoyang
洛陽女兒行 · Three Hundred Tang Poems
Song of the Maiden of Luoyang
A daughter of Luoyang faces me across the street,
Just past fifteen, her beauty already complete.
Her husband rides a white horse with a jade bridle held tight,
Her maid presents golden plates of sliced carp, a lavish sight.
Painted towers and crimson pavilions rise on every side,
Red peaches and green willows hang where eaves provide.
Silken curtains draw as she enters her seven-scented carriage,
A precious fan greets her return beneath nine-flowered tapestry's heritage.
Her reckless husband's wealth blooms in the spring of his years,
His pride and extravagance rival Ji Lun's, it appears.
He dotes on his precious jade, teaching her to dance with care,
He'd give away coral treasures without a thought to spare.
Morning light through spring windows snuffs the nine-wick flame,
The nine-wick lamp's fragments drift like flower petals, a fleeting game.
When play is done, she never finds time to tune her strings,
Her makeup complete, she only sits and lets incense cling.
All her friends in the city live in splendor and excess,
Day and night she passes through the homes of the noble and prestigious.
Who pities the Yue maiden, her face like jade so fair,
Washing cloth by the river in poverty, with none to care?
洛陽女兒行
洛陽女兒對門居，纔可容顏十五餘。
良人玉勒乘驄馬，侍女金盤鱠鯉魚。
畫閣朱樓盡相望，紅桃綠柳垂簷向。
羅幃送上七香車，寶扇迎歸九華帳。
狂夫富貴在青春，意氣驕奢劇季倫。
自憐碧玉親教舞，不惜珊瑚持與人。
春窗曙滅九微火，九微片片飛花璅。
戲罷曾無理曲時，妝成秪是薰香坐。
城中相識盡繁華，日夜經過趙李家。
誰憐越女顏如玉，貧賤江頭自浣紗。