Prisoner in a gilded cage

Zhang Hu imagines a moment in the life of a sequestered palace woman

To Her Within
Zhang Hu

Where moonlight gashed the palace trees, darkness returns. 
A pair of eyes inside the locked gate gazes
at the egrets' nest.

Presently, she moves on, only to pause by a lamp. Without disturbing her chignon, she draws out a jade hairpin and uses its tip to bend the burning wick. 

The moth flutters free.

---

Despite the title, this poem could not have been delivered to a woman living inside the palace. They lived entirely sequestered lives, not permitted any contact with the outside world.

---

张祜 赠内人

禁门宫树月痕过，媚眼惟看宿鹭窠。

斜拔玉钗灯影畔，剔开红焰救飞蛾。