To Minister Zhang Before the Examination
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
待晓堂前拜舅姑。
妆罢低声问夫婿，
画眉深浅入时无。
English translation
Last night in the bridal chamber the red candles burned, waiting for dawn to bow to his parents in the hall.
Her toilet finished, she softly asks her husband, are these painted brows, dark or light, in fashion now?
Meaning
In the bridal chamber last night the flower candles burned bright all night long; she waits for dawn to go before the hall and bow to her parents-in-law. Once dressed, she asks her husband softly: are my brows drawn dark or light enough to suit the fashion?
Background
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This poem was written during the Baoli era (the reign title of Emperor Jingzong of Tang, 825–827), on the eve of the jinshi examination that Zhu Qingyu was to sit. Before the jinshi examination it was the fashion for Tang scholars to "circulate their scrolls," that is, to present their poems to men of reputation, hoping to win their praise and an introduction to the vice minister of the Ministry of Rites who presided over the examination. The person to whom Zhu Qingyu sent this poem was Zhang Ji, then serving as director in the Ministry of Water Works. Zhu had already presented his work to Zhang and won his appreciation; but now that the examination was at hand, he still feared that his writing might not meet the chief examiner's requirements, and so wrote this poem to see whether it would suit the examiner's taste.