254 t He F i v e Dy na s t i e s anD t He s ong Dy na s t y
the voyeur’s gaze as the subject languidly rises, attends to her hair and makeup,
and examines herself in the mirror.
Despite its intimacy, the observer’s perspective on the female subject remains
external, the only suggestions of the woman’s emotional state being her laziness
at her toilet and the pairs of partridges (suggesting conjugal happiness) that she
has recently embroidered. None of the imagery, from the shimmering golden hills
in line 1 to the flowers in the woman’s hair in lines 5 and 6, reflected in mirrors in
front of and behind her, seems to have any emotional function other than to high-
light and reflect the woman’s beauty in her ornate setting. At the same time, this
contentment with a surface treatment of its subject (of which the reflection of a re-
flection in lines 5 and 6 is emblematic) is itself important to the poem’s emotional
effect. Although the woman has no apparent cause for discontent, the motions of
her morning routine are imbued with a sense of ennui.
Morning languor appears in a more melancholy context in this poem by Wei
Zhuang, also from the Huajian ji. Wei Zhuang’s poems are generally considered
more directly lyrical than those of Wen Tingyun. Here this quality is particularly
evident in the first stanza:C 1 2. 6
To the Tune “Audience at Golden Gate”Vain to remember him,
2 No way to get news through.
Chang’e in the heavens doesn’t recognize me.
4 Where shall I seek him, to send him a letter?Waking, languid, from new sleep,
6 Can’t bear to take up the remains of his letter.
A courtyard full of fallen blossoms—spring is lonely, lonely
8 —Heartbreaking, the fragrant grasses green.
[QTWDC 5.542]謁金門 (yè jīn mén)
vain each other remember 空相憶 ▲ (kōng xiāng yì)
no strategy obtain pass along information information 無計得傳消息 ▲^ (wú jì dé chuán xiāo xì)
heaven on Chang’- e person not know 天上嫦娥人不識 ▲ (tiān shàng cháng é rén bù shí)
send letter what place seek 寄書何處覓 ▲^ (jì shū hé chù mì)
new sleep wake up without strength 新睡覺來無力 ▲ (xīn shuì jué lái wú lì)
not bear lift his letter remains 不忍把伊書跡 ▲ (bù rěn bă yī shū jì)
whole garden fall blossom spring lonely lonely 滿院落花春寂寂 ▲ (măn yuàn luò huā chūn jì jì)
break gut fragrant grass jade-green 斷腸芳草碧 ▲ (duàn cháng fāng căo bì)The general sense of vanity (and, in particular, the frustration of communi-
cation) with which the poem begins is an element of the abandonment conven-