思還故里閭 sī huán gù lǐ lǘ [think of] [return] [old] [village] [village gate] I long to return to my native village,
欲歸道無因 yù guī dào wú yīn [desire] [return] [principle] [not have] [reason] yet desiring to return is no excuse.
Notes on this poem Like a lot of the other poems in this collection, pine, cypress and poplar trees are mentioned. All of these symbolise the grave. This is because they are traditionally used to mark tombs, as they are evergreen and this represents immortality.
The 蕭蕭 (xiāo xiāo) repetition also appears in this poem. Individually, the character means ‘mournful’ or ‘desolate’, and both these meanings were used in the translation above. Another option would be to repeat a single word, or emphasise the phrase in English with ‘so’.
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14. 去者日以疏 – The Departed Are More Distant Daily
Date: 2021-08-23 03:50 pm (UTC)qù zhě rì yǐ shū
[go] [those who] [day] [take] [distant]
The departed are more distant daily,
來者日已親
lái zhě rì yǐ qīn
[come] [those who] [day] [already] [close]
as daily those on their way draw closer.
出郭門直視
chū guō mén zhí shì
[leave] [city wall] [gate] [straight] [look]
I leave the city gate and look straight out,
但見丘與墳
càn jiàn qiū yǔ fén
[only] [see] [mound] [and] [grave]
only to see graves in their burial mounds.
古墓犁為田
gǔ mù lí wèi tián
[ancient] [tomb] [plow] [as] [field]
The ancient tombs have been ploughed into fields,
松柏摧為薪
sōng bǎi cuī wèi xīn
[pine] [cypress] [break] [as] [fuel]
their pine and cypress trees broken into firewood.
白楊多悲風
bái yáng duō bēi fēng
[white] [poplar] [much] [sorrow] [wind]
The white poplar, so sorrowful in the wind,
蕭蕭愁殺人
xiāo xiāo chóu shā rén
[desolate] [desolate] [worry] [murder] [people]
mournful, desolate, and deathly anxious.
思還故里閭
sī huán gù lǐ lǘ
[think of] [return] [old] [village] [village gate]
I long to return to my native village,
欲歸道無因
yù guī dào wú yīn
[desire] [return] [principle] [not have] [reason]
yet desiring to return is no excuse.
Notes on this poem
Like a lot of the other poems in this collection, pine, cypress and poplar trees are mentioned. All of these symbolise the grave. This is because they are traditionally used to mark tombs, as they are evergreen and this represents immortality.
The 蕭蕭 (xiāo xiāo) repetition also appears in this poem. Individually, the character means ‘mournful’ or ‘desolate’, and both these meanings were used in the translation above. Another option would be to repeat a single word, or emphasise the phrase in English with ‘so’.