26. The Tune of The Wild Geese's Tomb -Yuan Haowen

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问世间情是何物,直教生死相许。
天南地北双飞客,老翅几回寒暑。
欢乐趣,离别苦,就中更有痴儿女。
君应有语,渺万里层云,千山暮雪,只影向谁去。
横汾路,寂寞当年箫鼓,荒烟依旧平楚。
招魂楚些何嗟及,山鬼暗啼风雨。
天也妒,未信与,莺儿燕子俱黄土。
千秋万古,为留待骚人,狂歌痛饮,来访雁邱处。

Among the earthly mortals, I ask: what is Love
That engages couples through life and death?
This flying pair, travelling from south to north,
Had old wings, which survived several summers and winters.
Staying paired is happy,
But to sever, bitter: a trap in itself where devoted lovers
Still long to be trapped. He must have had a thought:
For whom shall I trail a forlorn shadow flying over
Ten thousand miles of grey clouds
And mountains of night snow?
On this road by Fen River, the old pipes and drums
Are gone. Only bleak smoke and vast woods are left.
Vain to evoke the ancient ghosts. The Mountain Spirit
Also wails in vain. Heaven envies the geese,
Not believing they’ll return to dust like orioles
And swallows. There they’ll remain, for a thousand
Autumns, awaiting the poets of later generations
Who are coming, rhapsodizing and quaffing
Just for a view of the wild geese’s tomb.


In the fifth year of Taihe, Yuan Haowen went to Bingzhou to attend an imperial examination. On the way a bird hunter said to him that, he caught a wild goose and killed it. Its partner kept soaring, wailing above and finally killed itself by plunging on the ground. When hearing this touching thing, the poet buried the pair of geese beside the Fen River and named it “The Wild Geese’s Tomb”, he then composed this poem to praise their loyal love.

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