The silence

Zhang Qingyu sees suffocation in splendour

Tiger in a Tropical Storm, by Henri Rousseau. I like this as a match for the poem because despite the bright colours and action, it feels curiously static and silent.

A Poem in the Palace
Zhu Qingyu

In the hush when all the flowers bloom behind closed gates,
Two of the beautiful ones stand together by their jade beaded drapes,
Inflamed, on the verge of speaking about palace affairs,
But for the parrot in front of them. Neither dares.

朱庆馀 宫中词
寂寂花时闭院门，美人相并立琼轩。
含情欲说宫中事，鹦鹉前头不敢言。

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This poem reminds me of D H Lawrence’s Hummingbird.

The bright bird makes the initial connection. But more than that, it’s a bright bird in an awful, choking silence. The magic happens in the first four characters, in the “hush when all the flowers bloom”. Why? Why is it hushed? And we learn in the last line that it’s the crushing panopticon of palace harem life.

Zhang Qingyu was a late Tang poet, and not much is known about him.