Weeping

人生能幾何？    How long can one man's lifetime last?
畢竟歸無形。    In the end we return to formlessness.
念君等為死，    I think of you waiting to die.
萬事傷人情。    A thousand things cause me distress -
慈母未及葬，    Your kind old mother's still alive.
一女纔十齡。    Your only daughter's only ten.
泱漭寒郊外，    In the vast chilly wilderness
蕭條聞哭聲。    I hear the sounds of weeping men.
浮雲為蒼茫，    Clouds float into a great expanse.
飛鳥不能鳴。    Birds fly but do not sing in flight.
行人何寂寞，    How lonely are the travellers.
白日自淒清。    Even the sun shines cold and white.
憶昔君在時，    Alas, when you still lived, and asked
問我學無生。    To study non-rebirth with me,
勸君苦不早，    My exhortations were delayed-
令君無所成。    And so the end came, fruitlessly.
故人各有贈，    All your old friends have brought you gifts
又不及平生。    But for your life these too are late.
負爾非一途，    I've failed you in more ways than one.
痛哭返柴荊。    Weeping, I walk back to my gate.