More Translations from the Chinese/Poems in Depression, at Wei Village

by Bai Juyi

[27] POEMS IN DEPRESSION, AT WEI VILLAGE

[A.D. 812]

[1]

I hug my pillow and do not speak a word;
In my empty room no sound stirs.
Who knows that, all day a-bed,
I am not ill and am not even asleep?

[2]

Turned to jade are the boy's rosy cheeks;
To his sick temples the frost of winter clings....
Do not wonder that my body sinks to decay;
Though my limbs are old, my heart is older yet.