O youngest, best-loved daughter of Xie,
Who unluckily married this penniless scholar,
You patched my clothes from your own wicker basket,
And I coaxed off your hairpins of gold, to buy wine with;
For dinner we had to pick wild herbs --
And to use dry locust-leaves for our kindling.
...Today they are paying me a hundred thousand --
And all that I can bring to you is a temple sacrifice.
Original Poem:
「遣悲怀 · 其一」
元稹
谢公最小偏怜女， 自嫁黔娄百事乖。
顾我无衣搜荩箧， 泥他沽酒拔金钗。
野蔬充膳甘长藿， 落叶添薪仰古槐。
今日俸钱过十万， 与君营奠复营斋。
Interpretation:
Yuan Zhen's first wife, Wei, married him at the age of twenty, and they had a very good relationship after marriage, but unfortunately Wei died seven years later, and the poet was extremely sad. This group of poems was written about a year after Wei's death, and this is the first one, which recalls the hardship of Wei Cong's situation before her death and the love between the two of them.
In the first two lines, the poet says, “You are like the most favored daughter of Lord Xie, but your marriage to me, a poor scholar, has not been smooth.
The first two lines are about Wei Cong's identity and his poor life after marriage. Wei Cong was the youngest daughter favored by her father, Wei Xiaqing, who was a high-ranking official at that time, which strongly depicted Wei Cong's noble status. On the other hand, he was a poor and downtrodden scholar like Qianlou. Official disillusionment, financial constraints.
The middle four lines: you see I have no clothes in the box to find, you pull down the gold hairpin because I ask for wine. You used wild vegetables to fill your hunger but said the food was sweet, and the leaves of the ancient acacia fell as firewood without complaint.
Specifically describe the poor life after marriage. It is said that Wei searched for her own clothes and sold her jewelry to buy wine for her husband. The intimacy and love is soaked in between the lines. The life is not good, but Wei can taste the “sweet” flavor, it is really valuable. Take the acacia leaves as firewood, days of depression and cold, for this, Wei can be safe and no complaints.
The last two lines: now I have a high rank and salary, but you are away from the earth, in order to pay tribute to you to invite the monks and Taoists to overthrow the spirits.
Returning to reality, the poet writes about his present life and his action to repay his wife. Today, the more rich, the more miserable the past, the more he misses the wife of the same life together. However, after all, the immediate wealth can not be shared, only with fasting sacrifice to express their condolences and the deceased wife's repayment.
A prominent feature of the poem in writing is the use of contrasting techniques, to Wei Cong noble family background against the virtue of her peace and poverty, write today's wealth against the poverty of the past, in order to highlight the poet's thoughts of his deceased wife's endless sorrow, is really a eulogy in the ancient masterpieces of poetry.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
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”.
