The Emperor has sent for Lady Kuo Kuo. In the morning, riding toward the palace-gate, Disdainful of the paint that might have marred her beauty, To meet him she smooths her two moth-tiny eyebrows.
Original Poem:
「集灵台 · 其二」
张祜
虢国夫人承主恩，平明骑马入宫门。
却嫌脂粉污颜色，淡扫蛾眉朝至尊。
Interpretation:
This poem satirizes the arrogance of Mrs. Guo Guo and the shamelessness of Tang Xuan Zong. Mrs. Guo Guo was the third sister of Yang Yuhuan, married to the Pei family, a person of extremely bad reputation at that time.
The first two lines: Lady Guo Guo was favored by the Emperor and rode into the palace gate early in the morning.
Mrs. Guo Guo is not a consort yet she is actually favored by the emperor. This sentence alludes to her ambiguous relationship with Emperor Xuanzong. The day just dawned to see her riding into the palace, write Mrs. Guo Guo’s bullying and arrogance.
The last two lines: she only thought that her beauty would be tainted by cosmetics, and she went in to see the emperor after lightly describing her moth brows.
Write Mrs. Guo Guo’s outstanding appearance, she is afraid of powder and fat will tarnish her face, so she often do not apply powder and fat, but more and more appear to be the beauty of the group.
The style of the whole poem is subtle and euphemistic, seemingly praising but actually depreciating, wanting to suppress and raise, with extremely complimentary language with very deep satire, artistic skill is quite superb.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Zhang Hu (张祜) was a native of Hebei in 849 AD. – 849, a native of Hebei, never held an official position in his life, but was a good traveler of mountains and waters. Zhang Hu’s poems are mostly about landscapes and famous places.
