Still Are Thou Away 君不来

Jū Bù Lái
君 不 来

Fāng Gān(Táng)
方干（唐）

Yuǎn lù dōng xī yù wèn shéi？
远 路 东 西 欲 问 谁？

Hán lái wú chù jì hán yī.
寒 来 无 处 寄 寒 衣。

Qù shí chū zhòng tíng qián shù,
去 时 初 种 庭 前 树，

Shù yǐ shèng cháo rén wèi guī.
树 已 胜 巢 人 未 归。

Still Are Thou Away

Fang Gan (Tang)

Whom can I ask whither goes thou on thy journey,

That I can send thee winter dress in the cold day?

When thou left home, in the courtyard was planted a tree,

It’s now grown with a nest on it, yet still are thou away.

Comment:

This is a poem, in which one expects his kin to return home. As is shown in the lines, the dear one left home a long time ago and lives in a faraway place. No word is from him. His family members miss him every minute and wish him to come back every day, but no sign of him. The tree he planted before departure has grown tall and is strong enough to support nests, but the tree-planter has not yet returned. What they have been expecting is only distress and dismay year after year.