Dreaming Of My Deceased Wife On The Night Of The 20th Day Of The First Month Poem by Su Shi

Ten years living dead both boundless
Not think of capacity self hardly possible forget
Thousand li alone grave not place say wife cold
Even if together meet must not recognise
Dust cover face, temples like frost
Night come deep dream suddenly return home
Little window properly dress make up
Mutual look not speak, just be tears too much flow
Expect must every year heart break place
Bright moon night thin pine guard
Ten boundless years now separate the living and the dead,
I have not often thought of her, but neither can I forget.
Her lonely grave is a thousand li distant, I can't say where my wife lies cold.
We could not recognise each other even if we met again,
My face is all but covered with dust, my temples glazed with frost.
In deepest night, a sudden dream returns me to my homeland,
She sits before a little window, and sorts her dress and make-up.
We look at each other without a word, a thousand tears now flow.
I must accept that every year I'll think of that heart breaking place,
Where the moon shines brightly in the night, and bare pines guard the tomb.