春宮怨 杜荀鶴

春宮怨     杜荀鶴 (846-904)
早被嬋娟誤，欲歸臨鏡慵。
承恩不在貌，教妾若為容。
風暖鳥聲碎，日高花影重。
年年越溪女，相憶采芙蓉。

The Rancor of a Seraglio Lady      Du Xunhe (846-904)

I knew my beautiful looks would have my life foiled,

Every time when I am to spruce myself up before the mirror I feel slothful,
If looks can’t win the grace of His Imperial,
In what way should I present my appeal,
Amidst the warm vernal zephyr bird twitters turn tattling trifles,
When the sun is high flowers shed overlapping shadows,
Year in year out the Yue river laundry girls keep talking how their predecessor Xishi became King Wu’s regal lover belle,  
Picking lotus flowers is not a bad way to start with after all.