元稹: 遣悲怀（之三）/ yuan zhen: an elegy iii

遣悲怀（之三）

元稹

闲坐悲君亦自悲， 百年都是几多时？

邓攸无子寻知命， 潘岳悼亡犹费词。

同穴窅冥何所望？ 他生缘会更难期。

惟将终夜长开眼， 报答平生未展眉。

　

an elegy iii

yuan zhen

i sit here alone, mourning for us both.

how many years do i lack now of my threescore and ten?

there have been better men than i to whom heaven denied a son,

there was a poet better than i whose dead wife could not hear him.

what have i to hope for in the darkness of our tomb?

you and i had little faith in a meeting after death-

yet my open eyes can see all night

that lifelong trouble of your brow.