Chinese Erotic Poetry #1

Li Shang Yin - From Jade City Sequence:

I am facing shadow, listening for you
And feeling such fervour.
In your jade pool the Lotus leaves are rampant.
Don't turn your head to look at other handsome men. Don't tap the shoulder of some other immortal.

Purple Phoenix, you are prettily untamed
As you such the jade pendulum.
My scaled red fish dances wildly
And plays your harp strings.
Now a handsome man boats at night
And gazes, anxiously lost,
And on an embroidered silk quilt smoked with incense you sleep alone.

By Li Shang Yin (813-858)

To the Tune of "Attached to Her Skirts"

The lamp flickers bright, bright,
And the water clock drips and drips.
Now that my lover has left
The night is so cold.
A frenzied west wind blows
And fetches me back from dream.
Does anyone miss me
As I lean alone on my pillow
With knitted brows?

My brocade screen and embroidered drapes show in autumn dawn.
This pain breaks me inside and I shed secret tears.
I still see a bright moon in my small west window.
I hate you,
I adore you,
But what would you know of that?

By Madam Wei

Grasshoppers & Baby Locusts:

Singing grasshoppers,
Leaping baby locusts,
Before I see my man
My heart throbs with worry,
But now we meet
And now we have sex
And my heart surrenders.

Climbing up South Mountain
To collect ferns
Before I see my man
My heart trembles with grief
But now we meet
And now we have sex
And my heart is rapture.

Climbing South Mountain
To collect fern
Before I see my man
Mu heart is riddled with pain
But now we meet
And now we have sex
And my heart is peace.

Anonymous

Huang E (1498-1569)

Every morning I get up
Beautiful as the Goddess
Of Love in Enchanted Mountain.
Every night I go to bed
Seductive as Yang Kuei-fei,
The imperial concubine.
My waste and thighs
Are exhausted and weak
From a night of cloud dancing.
But my eyes are still lewd,
And my cheeks are flushed.
My old wet nurse comes
My cloud-like hair.
My lover, fragrant as incense,
Adjusts my jade hairpins, and
Draws on my silk stockings
Over my feet and legs
Perfumed with orchids;
And once again we fall over
Overwhelmed with passion.

Huang E (1498-1569)

I open the door and see
Snowflakes flying night and day.
Three layers of embroidered
Quilt cannot keep me warm.
What I need is my man's hot belly.

Anon

A Nun in Her Orchid Chamber Solitude Feels Lust Like a Monster:

In her orchid chamber solitude
Her lust is a monster.
She is too lazy to beat her wooden fish.
Her book of her prayers is closed.
She's in no mood to chant mantras.
As a nun she's suffered a thousand bitternesses,
But when she gets old there's no guarantee of nirvana.
"Sigh, I should find a handsome man while I'm still young."

Anon