Living under a thatch roof, never wearing fragrant silk, She longs to arrange a marriage, but how could she dare ? Who would know her simple face the loveliest of them all When we choose for worldliness, not for worth ? Her fingers embroider beyond compare, But she cannot vie with painted brows; And year after year she has sewn gold thread On bridal robes for other girls.
Original Poem:
《贫女》
蓬门未识绮罗香，拟托良媒益自伤。
谁爱风流高格调，共怜时世俭梳妆。
敢将十指夸针巧，不把双眉斗画长。
苦恨年年压金线，为他人作嫁衣裳。
Interpretation:
This poem tells the tragedy of a woman from a poor family in its simple language, and at the same time sighs the situation of the poor girl, sighs the encounter of the poor and unfulfilled literati.
In the first two lines, the daughter of a poor family can’t recognize the fragrance of qiluo, and she feels even more sad when she wants to ask a good matchmaker to marry her.
When has the daughter of a poor family ever worn fine and gorgeous clothes, want to find a matchmaker to say a marriage, but because of their own poverty and feel sad. The poor girl is saddened by her own life.
The third and fourth sentences: Who can love my noble character and mood? But all of them love the frugal makeup that is in fashion nowadays.
These two lines are infused with the girl’s incomparable sadness and indignation, she was born in poverty, with the cloth skirt for companion, she is not without a beautiful sentiment, she is also the same as the rich girls have a beautiful vision of life, however, in the face of the world’s cruelty, people hate the poor and love the rich, she can no longer hide their heart’s bleakness.
The fifth and sixth lines: I dare to boast of my dexterity in needlework and thread, but I will never compete with others in the shortness and length of my eyebrows every day.
Praise for the poor girl’s superior embroidery skills and the lonely quality of not following the custom: the poor girl is dexterous with her hands and has superior embroidery skills, but she does not want to tend to the trend of the originally beautiful eyebrows depicted thin and long, and she only wants to cherish a pair of heavenly hands to embroider the marvelous embroidery to be admired by the people. The poor girl’s heart is full of sorrow and suffering, unwilling to go with the flow, reflecting her self-reservation and arrogance.
The last two lines: I hate the fact that every year when I hold gold thread embroidery in my hand, I make dowry clothes for the rich ladies.
Year after year of embroidery with gold thread, but in the end, it is all for other people’s daughters to prepare for the dowry, and how can I ever have a decent dowry? The poor girl’s indignation was carried to the extreme, she was cursing and questioning. She is cursing and questioning. This voice is not her personal one, but represents thousands of poor women who share the same experience with her, pouring their heartfelt resentment and dissatisfaction into this unreasonable society.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the Poet:
Qin Taoyu (秦韬玉) was a poet of the Tang Dynasty, whose date of birth and death is unknown, and who was a native of the present-day city of Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. Born into a martial arts family, he had the talent of writing poems at an early age, but failed to pass the examination several times.
