孟郊诗

Poems of Meng Jiao


Index

悼亡

Mourning my wife


山头明月夜增辉
增辉不照重泉下
泉下双龙无再期
金蚕玉燕空销化
朝云暮雨成古墟
萧萧野竹风吹亚

Hilltop, bright moon, night grows more bright.
Moonlight doesn't reach the world of the dead.
In that world, paired dragons never meet again.
Golden silkworms, jade swallows, all fade away.
Dawn clouds, dusk rain, come to our old village.
Then wind comes moaning through the wild bamboo.

-- 孟郊


废话

It is thought that Meng Jiao died while moving his wife and family to his next official appointment. But then, no one has ever translated all his poems before. So, while he could be mourning his first wife in his late years here, it is more likely that he is mourning his second wife. And that, on the heels of mourning his child. If so, then it was his mother and perhaps some of his other family members, including his somewhat critical sister-in-law, that he was moving in his final days.


Index