I find three or four sheets of your letters fine;
The words of your handwriting often go out of line.
You cared not for your hunger every other day,
If I was fed in deep mountains on my long way.
Original Poem
「六年春遣怀八首 · 其二」
元稹
检得旧书三四纸，高低阔狭粗成行。
自言并食寻常事，唯念山深驿路长。
Interpretation
This poem was composed by Yuan Zhen in 809 CE (4th year of Yuanhe era) while mourning his late wife Wei Cong, who passed away at twenty-seven. At the time, Yuan Zhen—demoted to a minor post in Jiangling after offending powerful eunuchs—found himself physically exhausted and emotionally isolated. Through the act of sorting through old belongings, the poem articulates his boundless grief. With remarkable emotional subtlety, it captures both his profound love and devastating loss.
First Couplet: « 检得旧书三四纸，高低阔狭粗成行。 »
Jiǎn dé jiù shū sān sì zhǐ, gāo dī kuò xiá cū chéng háng.
Sorting through old papers, I find three or four pages— Her handwriting uneven, lines alternately cramped and wide.
These lines immortalize Wei Cong's personal quirks through the physicality of her letters. The irregular penmanship—described with archaeological precision—becomes a testament to her authentic presence. Yuan Zhen cherishes not polished perfection, but the intimate imperfections that made her uniquely herself.
Second Couplet: « 自言并食寻常事，唯念山深驿路长。 »
Zì yán bìng shí xúncháng shì, wéi niàn shān shēn yì lù cháng.
"Living on two meals a day was nothing," she wrote, "Only your mountain journeys—those long, hard roads—truly worried me."
Here, Wei Cong's self-effacing care shines. She dismisses domestic hardships ("two meals a day" 并食, a humble diet) while fixating on Yuan Zhen's perilous official travels. The contrast reveals spousal love in its purest form: her suffering minimized, his amplified.
Holistic Appreciation
The poem elevates an ordinary act—sorting old papers—into sacred remembrance. Through forensic attention to material traces (the handwriting's irregularities) and emotional subtext (her selfless worries), Yuan Zhen constructs a monument more enduring than marble. Its power derives from restraint: no grand lamentations, just paper, ink, and the quiet thunder of love persisting beyond death.
Artistic Merits:
Yuan Zhen conveys the simplicity and sincerity of his deceased wife Wei Cong through meticulous details, such as the uneven handwriting in the "old letters." The poet eschews ornate language, opting instead for plain and concise words to express his wife's care and affection. Though the contents of the letters are unembellished, they poignantly reflect her warmth and selflessness toward her husband. Through this "wordless" portrayal, the poet reveals his profound longing for his departed wife.
In expressing emotion, Yuan Zhen employs a restrained yet profound approach, transforming grief into a remembrance of his wife's character and deep affection. The poem avoids overt sorrow, instead channeling inner anguish and yearning through recollections of mundane details, thereby rendering the emotions more powerful and genuine.
Insights
This elegy teaches us that true devotion lives in life's unspectacular margins—a crooked line of characters, a passing worry about road conditions. In our era of performative affection, Yuan Zhen's poem reminds us: the deepest bonds are recorded not in florid declarations, but in the shorthand of shared survival. Grief, too, needs no theatrics; sometimes it's just a man alone with his wife's handwriting, listening.
Poem translator
Xu Yuanchong (许渊冲)
About the poet
Yuan Zhen (元稹), 779 - 831 A.D., was a native of Luoyang, Henan Province, who was poor in his early years, but later became an official and finally died of a violent illness. He was friendly with Bai Juyi and often sang with him, and was known as “Yuan Bai”.
