[updated October 2022]
From Hunan, Send As a Gift to Secretary Jia
巴 陵 赠 贾 舍 人
贾 生 西 望 忆 京 华
湘 浦 南 迁 莫 怨 嗟。
圣 主 恩 深 汉 文 帝
怜 君 不 遣 到 长 沙。
Ba Ling Zeng Jia She Ren
Jia sheng xi wang yi jing hua
Xiang pu nan qian mo yuan jie
Sheng zhu en shen han wen di
Lian jun bu qian dao chang sha.
From Hunan, Send As a Gift to Secretary Jia
Jia Yi’s gazed west into the distance and recalled his time in the capital
You are sent to the south, on the edge of Hunan, no need to regret or lament.
The Han emperor listened to the wrong people, your exile is not that bad
Happy that you were not sent further away to Changsha.
Notes:
Jia Yi: (ca. 201-169 BC) Politician and poet during the Western Han Dynasty. He wrote two famous prose poems, On the Owl and Lament For Qu Yuan.