My Scoundrel Of A Husband

This is the third poem of the day as I struggled with sleep. My mind was hyperactive from the Vietnamese coffee I had for dinner.

1 君心未定花草惹 Flirting with flowers and grasses, the heart of my lord has not settled yet,
2 定時妾容夕陽斜 And when it does, the oblique setting sun shines  on the face of this maid.
3 東風莫識芙蓉帳 The East Wind does not know the hibiscus patterned curtains,
4 識日從何秋香借 And when it does, whence can autumn fragrance be borrowed?

1 In traditional Chinese culture, the husband is the lord and master. The husband is a scoundrel, regardless of the status of the women he philandered.

2 “Maid” is a self- deprecating term used as a third person to mean the wife. The setting sun denotes twilight of one’s years.

3 “East wind” denotes the vigor of the young male. “Hibiscus curtains” are fine delicate silk used as curtains for the bed for the rich and powerful. Here it infers that the husband because of his peccadilloes, no longer visits her boudoir.

4 And when his vigor has diminished, he begins to appreciate the wife’s virtues but then both are too old… 秋香 means fragrance of chrysanthemums. Autumn is their blooming season. At the same time, it is used as a pun for it is a common name for a young maid. In the days of yore, men sometimes take the handmaidens of the wife as concubines.

Thursday, January 20, 2022