遣兴
[清]袁枚
爱好由来下笔难，
一诗千改始心安。
阿婆还似初笄女[1]，
头未梳成不许看。
注释：
[1]初笄女：古代女子15岁加笄，初笄女指刚成年的女子。笄：古代妇女盘头用的簪子。
On Verse Writing
Yuan Mei
It’s hard to make a verse which could afford delight;
I cannot feel at ease till I write and rewrite.
An old beauty should make up like a maiden fair;
She would not show herself unless she’s dressed her hair.
“Yanxing” is a set of seven-character quatrains written by Yuan Mei, a poet in the Qing Dynasty. This set of poems was written in 1791 (the 56th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign), and expresses the author’s attitude and views on writing poetry.
