薛涛诗
Poems of Xue Tao
Index
寄张元夫
For Zhang Yuanfu
|
前溪独立后溪行 鹭识朱衣自不惊 借问人间愁寂意 伯牙弦绝已无声 |
I am standing alone by the stream where we walked. Herons so used to my red skirts, they never fly away. In the world of men, do you think of my lonely sadness? Bo Ya's broken lute strings are already silent. |
-- 薛涛
废话
Another poem by Xue Tao for a man who is not around. There seems to be a pattern of this in her life. Bo Ya was a lute player in the Spring and Autumn era. Ziqi was his best friend who was always there to listen to the music. When Ziqi died, Bo Ya broke his lute strings and swore never to play again. So the broken lute strings are a symbol of eternal friendship. Xue Tao clearly wants, and cannot find, an eternal friendship.