five tzu yeh songs

Five Tzu Yeh Songs

I
I cannot sleep
For the blaze of the full moon.
I thought I heard here and there
A voice calling.
Hopelessly I answer "Yes."
To the empty air.

II
It is night again
I let down my silken hair
Over my shoulders
And open my thighs
Over my lover.
"Tell me, is there any part of me
That is not lovable?"

III
I had not fastened my sash over my gown,
When you asked me to look out the window.
If my skirt fluttered open,
Blame the Spring wind.

IV
The bare branches tremble
In the sudden breeze.
The twilight deepens.
My lover loves me,
And I am proud of my young beauty.

V
I am the North Pole
Steady for a thousand years.
Your sun-like heart
Goes East in the morning
And West in the evening.

poem by Tzu Yeh, a Chinese woman who wrote poetry during the 3rd - 4th centuries, found in Women Poets of China, poems translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung