262. Spring Grief | Liu Fangping
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
纱窗日落渐黄昏，金屋无人见泪痕。
English translation
The sun sets beyond the gauze window; dusk comes on. In the gilded chamber no one is here to see my tearstains.
The gilded chamber recalls the tale of Emperor Wu of Han keeping his beloved in a golden house; it names a splendid dwelling and hints that she was once treasured. No one is here means her grief draws no attention—she does not even have someone to witness it.
Original Chinese text
寂寞空庭春欲晚，梨花满地不开门。
English translation
In the lonely, empty courtyard spring is nearly over; pear blossoms cover the ground, and I will not open the door.
Spring nearly over means the season is ending and quietly echoes the fading of the woman's youth. Refusing to open is her own act of shutting the world out: she could go and look at the fallen blossoms, but she keeps the door closed, leaving both the spring light and her loneliness outside.
赏析 · Commentary
没有人看见的悲伤 · Grief No One Sees
首句已经把人放进黄昏，第二句马上交代处境：屋子再华美，也没有人在场。到后两句，连庭院也空了，能陪她的只有满地梨花。诗里没有对话，也没有人来，这份悲伤之所以成立，正因为始终找不到一个观看的人。
The first line already places the woman in dusk; the second explains her situation at once: however fine the chamber, no one is there. By the closing couplet even the courtyard is empty, and only fallen pear blossoms keep her company. There is no conversation and no visitor. Her grief exists precisely because there has never been anyone to watch it.
“不开门”这个动作 · The Gesture of the Unopened Door
末句的“不开门”是全诗唯一由女子主动做出的动作。春花将尽，去看一眼或许还能解闷，她却选择把门关上。这既像赌气，也像认命；院子里的春色进不来，她的寂寞也出不去。一个静止的动作，把整首诗的情绪收在了门内。
The refusal to open the door is the only gesture the woman makes in the whole poem. The last of spring might still offer some distraction, yet she chooses to shut it out. It looks like sulking and like resignation at once: the courtyard's spring cannot enter, and her loneliness cannot leave. One motionless act keeps the poem's feeling shut inside the door.