Hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving pause :)
On my mind: Song poet-scholar Su Shi [Wikipedia] composed this poem following a dream of his deceased young wife, ten years after her passing. It’s one os his best known. This is Burton Watson’s translation [Amazon].
十年生死两茫茫，
Ten years, dead and living dim and draw apart.
不思量，
I don’t try to remember,
自难忘。
But forgetting is hard.
千里孤坟，
Lonely grave a thousand miles off,
无处话凄凉。
Cold thoughts, where can I talk them out?
纵使相逢应不识，
Even if we met, you wouldn’t know me,
尘满面，
Dust on my face,
鬓如霜。
Hair like frost.
夜来幽梦忽还乡，
In a dream last night suddenly I was home.
小轩窗，
By the window of the little room,
正梳妆。
You were combing your hair and making up.
相顾无言，
You turned and looked, not speaking,
唯有泪千行。
Only lines of tears coursing down.
料得年年断肠处，
Year after year will it break my heart?
明月夜，
The moonlit grave,
短松冈。
The stubby pines.