内人生日
[清]吴嘉纪
潦倒[1]丘园[2]二十秋，
亲炊葵藿[3]慰余愁。
绝无暇日[4]临青镜[5]，
频过凶年[6]到白头。
海气荒凉门有燕，
溪光摇荡屋如舟。
不能沽酒[7]持相祝，
依旧归来向尔谋[8]。
注释：
[1]潦倒：生活穷困。
[2]丘园：家园，乡村。
[3]葵藿：均为菜名。
[4]暇日：闲暇的时间。
[5]临青镜：照镜子打扮自己。
[6]凶年：苦难的日子。
[7]沽酒：买酒。
[8]谋：商量。
On My Wife’s Birthday
Wu Jiaji
For twenty years in thatched cot we’ve lived poor life;
To cook my meal and ease my grief I have my wife.
She has no time to make up before mirror bright;
We’ve often passed hard times until our hair grows white.
Only swallows perch on our dreary seaside beam;
Our cottage trembles like a boat on rippling stream.
I cannot buy wine to celebrate her birthday;
I still come to consult with her on what she’ll say.
“My Wife’s Birthday” is a seven-character regulated verse written by the Qing Dynasty poet Wu Jiaji. The poem first recalls the poet’s wife’s hard work in the twenty years of marriage, then describes the living environment now, and finally writes that the poet can’t afford to sell wine and has to give poems to celebrate his wife’s birthday. The whole poem is written in plain language, like a casual chat, with plain language. Although it seems to be sad, it actually shows the deep affection between the poet and his wife.
