A Prisoner's Lamentation
Passing by Lindingyang*
Chinese verse: Wen Tianxiang (1236-1282)
English version: (Frank) Huang Xinqu
I've taken pains reading classics to be an official,
Four bleak years have been spent in thick battles.
Our land is broken like catkins drifting in the wind,
I roam here and there as duckweed buffeted by the rain.
How panic-stricken I was retreating before the Tartars!
Being a captive, I lamented over my solitary confinement.
Who can avert his death since time immemorial?
Let my heart remain true to shine in the annals.
* Lindingyang is in the present day Sun Yat- sen county, Shenzhen,
Guangdong Province.
Writing background: When the Song court was invaded by the Mongol
Tartars,the poet - a Prime Minister rose up in heroic resistance. In 1278
he was taken prisoner by the Mongol conquerors. The enemy tried
every possible means to persuade him to surrender, but of no avail.
While passing by Lindingyang to the prison, he wrote this poem
to voice his unyielding spirit before his death. A national hero of
ancient China, he died a heroic death at the age of 46. Tr.
Selected from 《译海浪花---黄新渠译文译诗选集》
Spring Festival 1975
Revised： 2012. 2.21
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