The Jewel Stairs' Grievance

[helenwyler]

The Jewel Stairs' Grievance

Li Po (A.D. 701-62)

The jewelled steps are already quite white with dew,
It is so late that the dew soaks my gauze stockings,
And I let down the crystal curtain
And watch the moon through the clear autumn.


tr. Ezra Pound, who added:

NOTE: Jewel stairs, therefore a palace. Grievance, therefore there is something to complain of. Gauze stockings, therefore a court lady, not a servant who complains. Clear autumn, therefore he has no excuse on account of the weather. Also she has come early, for the dew has not merely whitened the stairs, but has soaked her stockings. The poem is especially prized because she utters no direct reproach.

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I was clearing out some books today and found this, which I hadn't read for ages. I love it because the visual image is so strong and yet nothing is explicit.

Hope you enjoy it too!

[Kenn]

Lovely, the sort of imagery that each one of us can make our own imaginary pictures from.