I rise without joy, daub on some rouge, And force myself to look in the mirror. My face is still grey. I’m gaunt from worry. I’m desperately lonely. I cry a lot. At my dressing table, my maid helps blacken my eyebrows And I suffer her to steam my braids. Plum blossoms for my hair! She really is an idiot. —Zhu Shuzhen, trans. Adam Lanphier

I rise without joy, daub on some rouge, And force myself to look in the mirror. My face is still grey. I’m gaunt from worry. I’m desperately lonely. I cry a lot. At my dressing table, my maid helps blacken my eyebrows And I suffer her to steam my braids. Plum blossoms for my hair! She really is an idiot. —Zhu Shuzhen, trans. Adam Lanphier