DISCLAIMER: I do not own the original poem that inspired this work ( "The River-Merchant's Wife" by Rihaku (Li T'ai Po) Translated by Ezra Poundany) The characters presented in this poem are not mine but the words from the poem is solely mine.
A/N: I wrote this piece in grade 10 actually. This is unbeta-ed so again if anyone would like to beta my future fan fictions; please contact me by messaging me on here. Surprisingly I do not have a song that wrote this with. I will post the original poem to showcase the similarities and differences to it after my original poem. Reviews are loved and silent readers are frowned upon.
The River-Merchant: A Letter (My Work)
When I still had a short pony for my hair
I was walking aimlessly, struggling on bamboo stilts.
There peeked a plum tree just over a guarded fence,
Where I become a deer in headlights, picking plums.
You had my eyes, stealing something already given:
And we went on living in the village of Chokan.
At sixteen I married A Beauty-You.
I made smiles, being light-hearted.
Raising my chin, I looked beyond the wall.
Calling forth, over time, I had to walk.
At seventeen I stopped playing,
Your water was sweet enough to live eternally
By your side longer than forever.
Why would I feel otherwise?
At eighteen I'm gone, You were left behind in the village of rules and regulations,
And away I have been gone for five months.
The petals are falling off the blossoms.
You clung onto the tails of my coat.
By the tree now, the branches are dark, the fruit shriveled,
Too old to eat ripe!
The roads dance up mist, in air.
The wood already ancient with August.
Over the mountains in the East;
I miss you. I am old.
If you are still waiting past the narrows of the river
Mei lin,
This will be my last breath,
And the time to say
my hardest goodbye.
The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter (Original Poem)
While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead
I played about the front gate, pulling flowers.
You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse;
You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums.
And we went on living in the village of Chokan:
Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.
At fourteen I married My Lord you.
I never laughed, being bashful.
Lowering my head, I looked at the wall.
Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.
At fifteen I stopped scowling,
I desired my dust to be mingled with yours
Forever and forever and forever.
Why should I climb the lookout?
At sixteen you departed,
You went into far Ku-to-en, by the river of swirling eddies,
And you have been gone five months.
The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead.
You dragged your feet when you went out.
By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses,
Too deep to clear them away!
The leaves fall early this autumn, in wind.
The paired butterflies are already yellow with August
Over the grass in the West garden -
They hurt me.
I grow older.
If you are coming down through the narrows of the river,
Please let me know beforehand,
And I will come out to meet you
As far as Cho-fo-Sa.
