Yu Xuanji Poems

Facing the wind, she raises a sigh as the petals fall and fall;
fragrant thoughts all sink and vanish with yet another spring.
No one asks about them, because their price is high,
though even butterflies can't come close to a fragrance that's so strong.
...

The day's shyness is covered with a silken sleeve;
spring sadness makes it hard to rise and put my makeup on.
It's easy to come by a pearl without price;
what's hard is to find a lover with a heart.
...

Jade's colour joins the river's barren banks;
smoky clouds dance themselves into distant mansions.
Reflections spread on the surface of the autumn river;
flowers fall on the heads of fishermen.
...

The precious mat is newly spread in my kingfisher-green chamber,
a deep, clear river of jade turning at right angles.
Yet surely it must share the feelings of the cloudlike fan,
facing the silver bed together, fearing an early fall.
...

From dawn to dusk I'm drunk, singing songs of myself,
lovesick with every new spring.
Out in the rain, there's a messenger with letters,
and under my window, someone with a broken heart.
...

Coloured clouds cut into clothing,
fragrant incense from embroidered veils;
the flowers and leaves of the lotus are,
the __ cloak of the landscape is thin.
...

The Eight Ministries control the valiant troops;
songs and carols fill the road anew.
On the River Fen, third-month rains;
on the Jin River, a hundred-flower spring.
...

As the states of Wu and Yue piled plot upon plot,
the silk-washing goddess offered ease;
a pair of laughing dimples turned the prince's head,
and a hundred thousand soldiers let fall their shining spears.
...