[updated October 2022]
Thinking of My Wife
往 富 平 伤 怀
晨 起 凌 严 霜
桶 哭 临 素 帷。
驾 言 百 里 途
恻 怆 复 何 为？
昨 者 仕 公 府
属 城 常 载 驰。
出 门 无 所 忧
返 室 亦 熙 熙。
今 者 掩 筠 扉
但 闻 童 稚 悲。
丈 夫 须 出 入
顾 尔 内 无 依。
衔 恨 已 酸 骨
何 况 苦 寒 时。
单 车 路 萧 条
回 首 长 逶 迟。
飘 风 忽 截 野
嘹 唳 雁 起 飞。
昔 时 同 往 路
独 往 今 讵 知。
Wang Fu Ping Shang Huai
Chen qi ling yan shuang
Tong ku lin su wei.
Jia yan bai li tu
Ce chuang fu he wei?
Zuo zhe shi gong fu
Shu cheng chang zai chi.
Chu men wu suo you
Fan shi yi xi xi.
Jin zhe yan jun fei
Dan wen tong zhi bei.
Zhang fu xu chu ru
Gu er nei wu yi.
Xian hen yi suan gu
He kuang ku han shi.
Dan che lu xiao tiao
Hui shou chang wei chi.
Piao feng hu jie ye Liao li yan qi fei. Xi shi tong wang lu Du wang jing ju zhi.
Thinking of My Wife On the Way to Fuping
Arise early morning to heavy frost
Deep sorrow and tears, white curtain-covered furniture.
Carriage talk on the road for another thirty miles
Drivers ask me, what makes you so sad?
Not long ago I was an official in a public position
Often had to travel outside to perform my duties.
When going outside she often encouraged me not to worry
Upon returning home, everything bright and happy.
Now I have to close the bamboo doors myself
Still can hear our children cry for their father.
But men have to go out and come back to support families
Have to rely on others to watch over the children.
Already sad to the bone with resentments
Cold season conditions more bitter now.
One carriage road desolate and bleak
Return trips down long and slow winding roads.
Suddenly soft breezes in the open country
Wild geese fly up with resonant cries.
In former times we traveled the same highways
Who could have known I would be so alone today.
Notes:
Fuping: A county in either Shaanxi or Hebei Province.
Commentary:
This poem is one of Wei Yingwu’s poems about his departed wife.