“The Complaint of the Colored Book” is a five-character regulated verse written by Shangguan Wan’er, a talented woman in the Tang Dynasty, about a beautiful woman complaining about her husband’s absence. The author, in the tone of a woman missing her husband in the boudoir, created the image of a wife who misses her husband who has been away for a long time in autumn, with sincere and heartfelt emotions. The first couplet of the poem points out the time, place and theme, the middle two couplets express her complaint and thoughts, and the last couplet suspends the whole poem, expressing the poet’s eagerness to miss her husband. The whole poem is deep and broad, natural and sincere, fresh and implicit, with neat parallelism and rich in emotion.
《彩书怨》是唐代才女上官婉儿创作的一首佳人怨夫不归的五言律诗，作者以闺中思妇的口吻，塑造了一位秋天怀念离居已久的丈夫的妻子形象，感情情真意切。该诗首联点明了时间、地点和主题，中间两联写其怨其思，末联束手全篇，表达了诗人思念丈夫的急切心情。全诗深沉开阔，自然真挚，清新含蓄，对仗工整，富有情味。
《彩书怨》 上官婉儿
叶下洞庭初，思君万里余。
露浓香被冷，月落锦屏虚。
欲奏江南曲，贪封蓟北书。
书中无别意，惟怅久离居。
Reproach in a Letter on Colored Paper
Shangguan Wan’er
When first leaves fall on Lake Dongting,
I long for you, thousands of miles away.
In heavy dew my scented quilt feels cold,
At moonset, brocade screen deserted.
I would play a Southland melody
And crave to seal a letter to Jibei(1).
The letter has no other message but
This misery in living long apart.
1. Jibei, in the far northeastern corner of China, represents a region of frontier warfare, thus suggesting a woman writing to her husband away in the army.
