239 李端 聽箏 translation: Listening to the Zither, by Lǐ Duān

This is a translation and annotation of the poem 聽箏 (Tīng Zhēng), “Listening to the Zither”, by the Tang dynasty poet 李端 (Lǐ Duān). The poem is #239 in the collection 300 Tang Poems.

聽箏 Tīng Zhēng [listen] [zither] Listening to the Zither

鳴箏金粟柱， míng zhēng jīn sù zhù [sound] [zither] [gold] [millet] [peg] Sounding the zither, its bridges like golden grain; 金粟 can also mean “osmanthus” or “stamen”.

素手玉房前。 sù shǒu yù fáng qián [plain] [hand] [jade] [chamber] [front] white hands before the jade chamber. 玉房 can also mean “pistil”, perhaps continuing the floral references.

欲得周郎顧， yù dé Zhōu Láng gù [wish] [obtain] [Zhou] [gentleman] [glance] Wishing to obtain Master Zhou's glance,

時時誤拂弦。 shí shí wù fú xián [time] [time] [mistake] [brush] [string] time and again, mistakenly brushing a string. 時時 could be “often” or “constantly”.

Related links:

• 聽箏 (李端) - WikiMedia
• 300 Tang Poems (Waters, Farman, Lunde)
• Fifty Five T’ang Poems (Hugh M. Stimson)
• Poems of the Late T’ang (A. C. Graham)
• Translation of 聽箏 into English by 黃宏發