Classic Poem

When Han declining lost its grasp of power,
Dong Zhuo upset the constant Way of Heaven.
He planned to depose and kill his emperor,
But first he murdered the wise and able men.
He made everybody move to the ancient capital,
And set up an emperor by force to strengthen himself.
Within this land there rose up a righteous army,
Who banded together to repress that wicked man.
Zhuo's company came down upon the east,
Their metal armor glinting in the sun
The men of the plains were weak and cowardly,
The invading soldiers were all Hu and Qiang
Trampling across the fields, they invested the cities,
In the towns they attacked, everything was destroyed.
Heads were lopped off till no one was left to kill,
Just bones and corpses propping each other up
On their horses' flanks they hung the heads of men,
On their horses' backs they carried off women and girls
We galloped for days westwards into the passes,
The endless road was dangerous and steep.
When I looked back, into the mist-hung distance,
I felt as though my very heart was breaking.
In all they captured over ten thousand women,
Our captors would not let us keep together.
Sometimes when sisters found themselves side by side,
Longing to speak, they dared not utter a word.
If by some trivial fault we angered the soldiers,
At once they'd bawl out: " Kill these prisoners!
We'd better take our knives and finish them,
Why waste our time in keeping them alive? "
I had no desire to go on living longer,
I could not bear their cursing and reviling.
Sometimes they flogged us with rods as well,
And the pain we felt was mingled with our hatred
During the day we trudged on weeping and crying,
At night we sat there, groaning to ourselves.
We longed to die, but could not get the chance
We longed to live, with nothing left to live for
How could the Blue Above be so unjust
To pour on us such anguish and misfortune?
The border wilds are different from China,
And men know little of Righteousness and Truth
It is a place where frost and snow abound,
And the northern wind blows spring and summer long
It sent my clothes flapping about as it blew,
And whistled shrilly all around my ears
Moved by the seasons, I thought of my father and mother,
My grief and sighing never came to an end
When a stranger arrived from the world outside,
I was always overjoyed to hear of it,
I would welcome him, ask him what news he had,
Only to find his district was not mine.
By luck my constant wish was gratified,
My relatives sent someone to rescue me.
But now when I was able to escape,
I found I had to leave my children there
Natural bonds tie children to a woman's heart,
I thought of our parting, never to meet again,
In life and death eternally separated —
I could not bring myself to say goodbye.
My children came and clung around my neck,
Asking their mother where she was going to.
" They say that you have got to go away,
How can you ever come back to us again?
Mother, you were always so loving and so kind,
Why have you now become so harsh to us?
We have not yet even grown into men,
How can you not look back and think of us? "
The sight of them destroyed me utterly,
I grew confused, behaved like one run mad.
Weeping and wailing, I fondled and caressed them;
When I had to set out, I turned back time and again.
The women who were taken captive with me
Came to bid me farewell and see me off.
They were glad that I could go back, though alone;
The sound of their crying hurt me grievously
Because of this the horses stood hesitating,
Because of this the carriage did not move.
All the lookers-on were crying and wailing,
Even the passers-by were crying too.
But I had to go! I had to harden my heart;
Daily our caravan hurried me further away.
On and on we went, three thousand leagues;
When would I ever see those I had left behind?
I brooded on the children of my womb,
The heart in my breast was broken evermore.
I got home to find my family was wiped out,
Nor had I any kin at all alive.
My home town had become a mountain-forest,
In its ruined courts the thorns and mugworts grew,
And all around, white bones of unknown men,
Lay scattered with no one to bury them.
Outside the gates I heard no human voices,
Only wolves were howling, barking all around.
I stood alone, facing my lonely shadow,
My cry of anguish battered at my heart.
I climbed a hill and gazed into the distance,
And soul and spirit suddenly fled from me
A bystander encouraged me to patience,
Kept urging me to try and go on living.
Though I went on living, what had life left for me?
I entrusted my fate to yet another man,
Exhausted my heart to summon strength to go on
My wanderings have made all men despise me,
I live in fear of being cast aside once more
How long can a woman's life go dragging on?
I shall know sorrow till the very end of my days.