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:
Wei Cong married Yuan Zhen at the age of twenty, and after their marriage, they had a very good relationship. She died seven years later, and the poet was extremely sad, so this poem was written about a year after Wei’s death, recalling the hardship of his wife’s situation and the love of their relationship during her lifetime.
The first line is a general description of Wei Cong’s identity and the poor life after marriage. Wei Cong was the youngest daughter of her father, Wei Xiaqing, who was a high ranking prince, which strongly depicted Wei Cong’s noble status. While he himself, is like Qianlou as poor and downtrodden downtrodden literati. He was disillusioned in his official career and in financial straits.
The middle of the poem is centered around poverty, specifically describing life after marriage. Wei Cong’s family lineage and the poet’s poverty is a contradiction in itself, Wei Cong searches for his own clothes, sells his jewelry to buy wine for his husband, and the intimacy and love is soaked in between the lines. Take the acacia leaves as firewood, days of depression and cold, for this reason, Wei Cong can be safe and no complaints.
Finally, back to reality, write the poet’s current life and his actions to repay his wife. Today, the more rich, the more miserable the past, the more I miss that concentric life with his wife, but the rich and powerful can not enjoy the same, only to set up a fast to pay tribute to their own mourning and repayment of the deceased wife.
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”.
