O youngest, best-loved daughter of Xie,
Who unluckily married this penniless scholar,
You patched my clothes from your own wicker basket,
And I coaxed off your hairpins of gold, to buy wine with;
For dinner we had to pick wild herbs --
And to use dry locust-leaves for our kindling.
...Today they are paying me a hundred thousand --
And all that I can bring to you is a temple sacrifice.
谢公最小偏怜女，自嫁黔娄百事乖。
顾我无衣搜荩箧，泥他沽酒拨金钗。
野蔬充膳甘长藿，落叶添薪仰古槐。
今日俸钱过十万，与君营奠复营宅。
Seven-character-regular-verse
"An elegy" is one of Yuan Zhen's elegiac poems mourning his wife Wei Cong. Composed about a year after her death while Yuan served as Imperial Censor, the poem recalls their impoverished marital life and profound bond. Wei Cong, youngest daughter of the eminent official Wei Xiaqing, descended from nobility yet endured poverty with her husband. Through these verses, Yuan Zhen expresses profound grief and remembrance.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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