It's a long way home, a long way east.
I am old and my sleeve is wet with tears.
We meet on horseback. I have no means of writing.
Tell them three words: "He is safe."
Original Poem:
「逢入京使」
岑参
故园东望路漫漫， 双袖龙钟泪不乾。
马上相逢无纸笔， 凭君传语报平安。
Interpretation:
In 749 A.D., Cen Shen first set foot on the journey to the Western Regions, serving as the secretary of the Anxi Minister Gao Xianzhi's staff, and this poem was written in the midst of his journey to the Western Regions.
In the first two lines, the poet looks eastward to Chang'an, where his homeland is far away, and the tears of homesickness that stain his sleeves are hard to wipe away.
The poet traveled westward, but he met with the envoy of the capital who was going eastward to return home. The emissary is more and more excited to go home, while the poet, who is far away from home, is naturally more and more sentimental. The encounter between the two increased the contrasting psychology, therefore, “tears of homesickness” makes sense.
The last two lines: on the horse hastily met no pen and paper to write letters, only to trust you to take a message to the family to report peace.
These two lines are written to meet the emissary into the capital want to take a message home to report peace and suffering no pen and paper situation, completely on the horse to meet the traveler in a hurry tone, written very evocative. Poet on the way to Anxi, met as the Beijing emissary of the deceased, a continue to travel west, a return to Chang'an, and his wife is also Chang'an, just to the old man to bring a letter of peace home to go back, but no pen and paper, and can not care about the letter, so I can only trust the old man to bring a message to report the safety of it.
The words of this poem come from life, reflecting life, handwritten, kind and flavorful.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Cen Shen(岑参), 715-770 AD, was a native of Jingzhou, Hubei Province. He studied at Mt. Songshan when he was young, and later traveled to Beijing, Luoyang and Shuohe. Cen Shen was famous for his border poems, in which he wrote about the border scenery and the life of generals in a majestic and unrestrained manner, and together with Gao Shi, he was an outstanding representative of the border poetry school of the Sheng Tang Dynasty.
