372 t He y uan, m i ng, anD q i ng Dy na s t i e s
by demonstrating his appreciation of his wife’s expression of love in skillful poetic
composition. Gan Lirou’s first response emphasizes their conjugal harmony and
mutual pleasures by using a standard image for husband and wife, the two types
of zither—qin and se. The synesthesia of the visual, aural, and olfactory senses in
the line “Fragrant tunes rise from the zithers” conveys the quality of and harmony
in their relationship. While her husband continues in the next couplet to bring
out the nocturnal universe that is exclusively theirs, Gan Lirou ends the poem by
reference to the familiar theme of their mutual dedication to his studies for the
examination late into the night. This is also the valued time of their being in each
other’s exclusive company after the children and elders have gone to bed.
Tragically, her husband died in his thirties while studying away from home, and
Gan Lirou was left a widow to bring up her small children and care for her mother-
in-law. During the three-year mourning period, she wrote many poems grieving
for her husband. Many of these poems make explicit the contrast between their
happiness together in the past and her solitude in the present. Cast in the emo-
tionally expressive sao style (chap. 2), “Expressing My Feelings” melds the external
desolation of a funeral wake with the young widow’s passionate grief:C 1 7. 1 1
Expressing My Feelings 述懷
(shù huái)
Dusk descends, alas, the cold seeps into the flesh. 將欲黃昏兮寒侵肌
(jiāng yù huáng hūn xi hán qīn jī)
2 The empty room is desolate, alas, I cannot bear my grief. 空房寂寞兮不勝悲
(kòng fáng jì mò xi bú shèng bēi)
Staring in a daze from the boudoir, alas, I watch for your return. 倚閨凝望兮盼君歸
(yĭ guī níng wàng xi pàn jūn guī)
4 Going out to the courtyard steps, alas, the chilly wind blows. 出步庭階兮淒風吹
(chū bù tíng jiē xi qī fēng chuī)
Going back into the hall, alas, I lean on your spirit banner. 重入中堂兮倚靈幃
(chóng rù zhōng táng xi yĭ líng wéi)
6 My orphaned sons and little daughters, alas, weep holding onto
my robe. 孤兒幼女兮泣牽衣
(gū ér yòu nǚ xi qì qiān yī)
I carry them back into the room, alas, in the dim reflection of
the lamp. 抱攜歸房兮燈影微
(bào xié guī fáng xi dēng yĭng wēi)
8 Holding in my grief, I put my face on the pillow, alas, tears
stream down. 含悲伏枕兮淚暗垂
(hán bēi fú zhĕn xi lèi àn chúi)
Vaguely I dream of you, alas, like in the old days. 恍惚夢君兮如昔時
(huăng hū mèng jūn xi rú xī shí)