[updated September 2022]
Awaiting For Wei Zhi to Arrive at Dao Guan Tongzhou, Explained His Feelings of Disappointment, I Reply With Four Poems
得 微 之 到 官 后 书， 备 知 通 州 之 事，怅 然 有 感，因 成 四 章
来 书 子 细 说 通 州
州 在 山 根 峡 岸 头。
四 面 千 重 火 云 合
中 心 一 道 瘴 江 流。
虫 蛇 白 昼 拦 官 道
蚊 蟆 黄 昏 扑 郡 楼。
何 罪 谴 君 居 此 地 ？
天 高 无 处 问 来 由。
Dei Wei Zhi Dao Guan Hou Shu Bei Zhi Tong Zhou
Zhi Shi Chang Ran You Gan, Yin Cheng Si Zhang
Lai shu zi xi shui tong zhou
Zhou zai shan gen xia an tou.
Si mian qian chong huo yun he
Zhong xin yi dao zhang jiang liu.
Chong she bai zhou lan guan dao
Wen ma huang hun pu jun lou.
He zui qian jun ju ci di?
Tian gao wu chu wen lai you.
Awaiting For Wei Zhi to Arrive At Dao Guan Tongzhou, Explained His Feelings of Disappointment, I Reply With Four Poems
Your letter arrived with thin allusions to Tongzhou
Your prefecture in the mountains with gorges and riverheads.
This western region with one thousand layers of hot and steamy mists
Main highways and rivers flow with miasma.
Government roads choked with omnipresent insects and snakes
After dusk, mosquitoes and the sores they cause attack prefecture buildings.
What crime did you commit to be sent to this land?
My pleas and requests for you to the higher-ups are not heard.
Notes:
Tongzhou: A prefecture in ancient China