新婚別 杜甫

三別(其一)        杜甫(712-770)

新婚別　

兔絲附蓬麻，引蔓故不長。嫁女與征夫，不如棄路旁。

結髮為君妻，席不曖君床。暮婚晨告別，無乃太匆忙！
君行雖不遠，守邊赴河陽。妾身未分明，何以拜姑嫜？
父母養我時，日夜令我藏。生女有所歸，雞狗亦得將。
君今往死地，沈痛迫中腸。誓欲隨君去，形勢反蒼黃。
勿為新婚念，努力事戎行。婦人在軍中，兵氣恐不揚。
自嗟貧家女，久致羅襦裳。羅襦不復施，對君洗紅妝。
仰視百鳥飛，大小必雙翔。人事多錯遷，與君永相望！

A Triplet of Parting Elegies (No. 1)    Du Fu  (712-770)

Parting of the Newly Weds

To flaxes climbing figs adhere,

Their coherence can’t go very far,
To a draftee you marry your daughter,
Just let her die by the road you’d rather,
Tying the knot in a wedding,
We don’t even have had the time to warm our lair,
Saying good-bye in the morning but just married in the last vesper,
There wouldn’t be anything sooner,
Though you won’t go very far,
To Heyang you are to guard the frontier,
My status as your wife is still not ceremonially declared,
In what capacity should I meet my in-law parents and sisters,
While I was still an unmarried daughter,
My parents hid me deep in the bowers,
A girl is born to a spouse to adhere,
Even to a cock or a dog she must follow kismet’s order,
To the battlefield now you fare,
My heart rankles with grave sores,
How much I’d like to follow you into the encounter,
But things are pressingly severe,
You must do your best for the warfare,
Just forget the newly wedded bride in her boudoir,
In the army if a woman hinders,
Morale will be greatly battered,
Coming from a poor family I deplore,
To put on this wedding gown a lot of difficulties I’d endured,
This gown to me will be useful no more,
Now in front of you I’ll have my wedding makeup scoured,
Looking at the birds in the sky that soar,
Big or small they all fly in pairs,
How intriguingly volatile are human affairs,
But come what may I’ll love you forever.