Wei Yingwu: Send Off Her Body

Send Off Her Body

送 终

奄 忽 逾 时 节
日 月 获 其 良。
潇 潇 车 马 悲
祖 载 发 中 堂。

生 平 同 此 居
一 旦 异 存 亡。
斯 须 亦 何 益
终复委山岗。

行 出 国 南 门
南 望 都 苍 苍。
日 入 乃 云 造
恸 哭 宿 风 霜。

晨 迁 俯 玄 庐
临 决 但 遑 遑。
方 当 永 潜 翳
仰 视 白 日 光。

俯 仰 遽 终 毕
封 树 已 荒 凉。
独 留 不 得 还
欲 去 结 中 肠。

童 稚 知 所 失
啼 号 捉 我 裳。
即 事 犹 苍 卒
岁 月 始 难 忘。

Song Zhong

Yan hu yu shi jie
Ri yue huo qi liang.
Xiao xiao che ma bei
Zu zai fa zhong chang.

Sheng ping tong ci ju
Yi dan yi cun wang.
Si xu yi he yi
Zhong fu wei shan gang.

Xing chu guo nan men
Nan wang dou cang cang.
Ri ru nai yun zao
Tong ku su feng shuang.

Chen qian fu xuan lu
Lin jue dan huang huang.
Fang dang yong qian yi
Yang shi bai ri guang.

Fu yang ju zhong bi
Feng shu yi huang liang.
Du liu bu de huan
Yu qu jie zhong chang.

Tong zhi zhi suo shi
Ti hao zhuo wo chang.
Ji shi you cang zu
Sui yue shi nan wang.

Send Off Her Body

Time moves quickly, seasonal festivals gone
Auspicious time, sun and moon in harmony.
Neighing carriage horses sad
Left the mourning room, heading for the ancestral burial grounds.

All of our lives together in this same building
One new day, one lives the other dies.
Step by step the procession proceeds
When finished we will be on a mountain ridge.

After traveling through the southern gate
Gaze into the distance, all is deep blue and vast.
When the sun entered the mountains, only then did we arrive in the clouds
Crying and sorrows during an evening of wind and frost.

Morning, bow down to her funeral crypt
When the time for farewells arrive, fear takes over.
Realize you will be submerged and out of sight forever
I can look up and see the bright sunlight.

Memorial rites completed and done
Cemetery trees already bleak and desolate.
Remain all alone, do not want to go back
I want to leave, but my insides still uneasy.
Young daughter finally realizes her error, mother is not coming back
She cries and howls, grabbing my clothes.

Notes:

Auspicious time:  The Chinese waited for an auspicious day before burying        their dead.