ChineseStudy

251. Regret in the Women's Quarters | Wang Changling

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English translation

The young woman in her chamber has not yet known sorrow. On a spring day, carefully dressed, she climbs the painted tower.

To dress carefully here means to put on full adornment. She is carefree before reaching the tower, not incapable of feeling. The poem first establishes a bright, easy mood so that the turn in the next couplet can be felt.

Suddenly she sees the green willows by the road and regrets having urged her husband to seek rank and honor.

To seek a marquisate means to win distinction, often through military service. The spring willows are beautiful, yet they recall farewell branches and a husband long absent. The word suddenly marks the instant in which delight turns into regret.

赏析 · Commentary

一眼春色改变了什么 · What One Glimpse of Spring Changes

诗没有铺写长期相思，只截取登楼后的一瞬。少妇梳妆、登楼，原本是要看春景；杨柳进入视线后，景物却牵出了送别和远行。前后心境都由同一个春日承载，变化不在天气，而在她突然意识到：功名的代价，是眼下无人相伴。

The poem does not narrate months of longing; it isolates one instant after the woman climbs the tower. She dresses and goes up to enjoy spring, but the willows draw farewell and absence into the scene. The same spring day holds both moods. Nothing in the weather changes; what changes is her realization that the price of advancement is having no companion beside her.

“怨”不是一开始就有 · The Regret Is Not There at the Start

题目先告诉读者这是一首“闺怨”，正文却从“不知愁”写起。王昌龄把答案压到最后一个“悔”字，读者才明白前面的盛妆和翠楼为何重要：越是明媚，突然出现的空缺越清楚。诗中的怨也不只是埋怨丈夫，更包含她对自己当初选择的反省。

The title announces a complaint from the women's quarters, yet the poem begins with no sorrow. Wang Changling withholds the explanation until the final word, regret. Only then do the careful dress and splendid tower reveal their purpose: the brighter the scene, the clearer the absence. Her feeling is not merely blame directed at her husband; it also turns back upon her own earlier choice.

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