“Three Poems of Seven Sadness” is a group of five-character ancient poems written by Wang Can, a writer in the late Han Dynasty and one of the “Seven Scholars of the Jian’an Period”. The first poem describes the miserable situation of refugees and abandoned children that the poet saw in the suburbs when he first left Chang’an, and lamented the rarity of prosperous times. Among the three poems, the first one is the most widely circulated, and it truly depicts a tragic picture of separation and chaos.
《七哀诗三首》是汉末文学家、“建安七子”之一王粲所创作的一组五言古诗。其中第一首诗写诗人初离长安在郊外所见难民弃子的惨状，感叹于盛世的难得。这三首诗中，以第一首最广为流传，它真实地描绘出一幅悲惨的离乱的画面。
《七哀诗·其一》 王粲
西京乱无象，豺虎方遘患。
复弃中国去，委身适荆蛮。
亲戚对我悲，朋友相追攀。
出门无所见，白骨蔽平原。
路有饥妇人，抱子弃草间。
顾闻号泣声，挥涕独不还。
“未知身死处，何能两相完？”
驱马弃之去，不忍听此言。
南登霸陵岸，回首望长安。
悟彼《下泉》人，喟然伤心肝。
Lamentations
Wang Can
I
As the western capital falls to civil strife,
Usurpers grab for power, ruining life.
I’ll leave the mid-land for a second time,
Seeking shelter in the southern clime.
Full of sorrow are my kith and kin,
Ready to follow me through thick and thin.
Along the way, nothing may be found,
Nothing but dried bones that dot the ground.
I see a hungry woman on the way
Discard her son amid the grass and hay.
From behind me comes a weep and cry
Of the woman moaning loud her reason why:
“As I myself know not where I shall die,
How are we to keep the maternal tie?”
I gallop past the woman in great haste,
Nor bear nor hear the words of bitter taste.
When I reach the tomb of Emperor Wen,
I look back at abandoned Chang’an again.
With the poem Spring Waters in my mind,
I’m sad for lack of kings so wise and kind.
