Autumn Dawn
by Sung Chiao-jen
I couldn't fall asleep at night on the journey,
Rising or sitting restless mooching lonely.
The moon setting, mountains lit up by dawning,
Cocks are crowing under thousands of frosted roof-tiles.
Dreaming back at home, sweet but too short,
The night is too long for the sick and the miserable.
I do have the will to fight, but in vain,
Wandering all forlorn.
（作于 1904）
日落浦风急，天低野树昏；
孤舟依浅渚，秋月照征人。
家国嗟何在，乾坤渺一身；
夜阑不成寐，抚剑独怆神!
Moored at the Liangzi Lake at Dusk
(Written in 1904)
The sun setting, breezes rise by the lake.
The dusk sky is lowering on dim wild trees.
My lonely boat moored by the shoal,
The autumn moon shines on the traveling warrior.
Alas! Whence my home, whence my country?
In the immense universe how tiny I am.
Deep into the night I cannot fall asleep,
Touching my sword up and down, woe at heart.
(作于1906)
去国已三载，思家又一秋。
亲忧知白发，闺怨定蓬头。
禹域③腥膻满，天涯道路悠。
有家归未得，期待灭仇雠。
Longing for Home
（Written in 1906）
I've left my country three years,
Another autumn brings more homesick grief.
My parents, I fear, are silver-haired with worry,
The lonely wife, no doubt, disheveled in her sorrow.
The realm of Yu is fouled with stench and blood,
The road to the lofty goal stretches endlessly.
Though I have a home I cannot return,
I await the day all the foes are eliminated.
【注】
- 一九〇四年春，宋教仁与黄兴等在长沙创立华兴会，决定十一月十六日慈禧太后生日时在长沙举行起义，因泄密而失败，宋教仁潜离长沙。十一月十日乘船过湖北，这首诗当是写于这时。梁子湖，在湖北省武昌县东，跨鄂城、大冶两县。
- 一九〇四年十二月宋教仁去日本东京，一九〇七年回国，去东北安东，谋占奉天，与南方起义相呼应。招兵失败，宋复返日本。《思家》当是在日本时所作。
- “禹域”指夏王大禹的领土，在文学诗歌中借喻“中国”。
【诗人简介】见本书《哭铸三尽节黄花岗二首》作者简介。
Notes:
- In the spring of 1904, Sung Chiao-jen and Huang Xing founded the Huaxing Society in Changsha and decided on November 16th, Cixi the Empress's birthday, to hold an uprising in Changsha, but failed due to leaks, and Sung Chiao-jen secretly left Changsha. On November 10th, his ship passed through Hubei. The poem should have been written at this time. Liangzi Lake is in the east of Wuchang County, Hubei Province, spanning the counties of Echeng and Daye.
- In December 1904, Sung Chiao-jen went to Tokyo, Japan. In 1907, he returned to China and went to Andong in Northeast China to plan the occupation of Fengtian to be in line with the Southern Uprising. The recruitment failed and Sung returned to Japan. "Longing for Home" was written while in Japan.
- "Yuyu" refers to the territory of King Yu of the Xia Dynasty. "The realm of Yu" in classical poetry is a literary metaphor for “China”.
Introduction to the poet: See 《Mourning Zhusan, Martyr of Huanghuagang Uprising, Two Poems》Introduction to the Poet in this book.
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