西施詠 王維

西施詠    王維(701-761)

艷色天下重，西施宁久微。朝為越溪女，暮作吳宮妃。

賤日豈殊眾，貴來方悟稀。邀人傅粉粉，不自著羅衣。

君寵益嬌態，君怜無是非。當時浣紗伴，莫得同車歸。

持謝鄰家子，效顰安可希。

The Beauty Xi Shi         Wang Wei (701-761)

Devastating ravishing looks is the adoration of the whole world,

A woman as beautiful as Xi Shi will never remain in obscurity all her life whole,
In the morning she is only a Yue laundry girl,
At dusk she is already King Wu’s concubine regal,
When she is still obscure she is just an ordinary girl
When she becomes a lady noble, people come to know she is singularly special,
Sprucing herself up by maids avail,
And clothing her with her apparel,
She becomes more and more conceited as she is being spoiled,
The king’s doting blinds him from good and evil,
Her former laundry maids are not to ride in the same carriage with her to recoil,
Different looks warrant different approvals,
She goes telling her neighbouring girls,
It’s no use mimicking my frowning at all.