越管宣毫始稱情，紅箋紙上撒花瓊。
都緣用久鋒頭盡，不得羲之手里擎。
A Brush Separated from the Hand
Xue Tao
Reed of Yue and Xuancheng bristles1
suit the owner’s pleasure,
On sheets of pink writing paper
it scattered flowers and gems.
Only due to such long use
the hairs have lost their point,
And now it won’t be taken up
in the hand of Wang Xizhi.2
1. Reeds from the southeastern region of Yue and wolf or rabbit hairs from Xuancheng in modern Anhui were said to make the finest writing brushes.
2. The great fourth-century calligrapher Wang Xizhi is here used as a figure for the brush’s owner.
(Stephen Owen 譯)
