Vọng Cố Hương
NGUYỄN VĂN QUẢNG NGÃI
Nhớ quê ruột đắng chín chiều
Gió ơi? Cho gởi bao điều xót xa
Khung trời dĩ vãng bao la
Làm sao quên được căn nhà ấu thơ?
Quê hương xa lắc, xa lơ
Những khu vườn cũ bây giờ ra sao?
Núi Xương Rồng vẫn còn cao?
Sông Trà Câu vẫn xanh màu thời gian?
Khi chim tu hú gọi đàn
Ve sầu rừng cũ vẫn ran giọng buồn?
Hàng me vẫn đứng ven đường?
Bờ tre ven suối vấn vương nắng chiều?
Bến xưa đá vẫn xanh rêu?
Miếu ông Đè chắc vẫn nhiều linh thương?
Ai về xóm nhỏ Bình Yên
Nhịp cầu Mương Xỏ lòng riêng đợi chờ?
Đồi Dân đá vẫn trơ trơ
Đập Mồ Côi chắc bơ vơ đời đời?
Trải bao vật đổi sao dời
Liên Trì Dục Nguyệt vẫn ngời hương thơm
Mẹ đi chợ Chiều chiều hôm
Nhớ mua bánh tráng kẻo con trông chờ
Từ ta xa cách đến giờ
Mười năm chép mãi vần thơ chưa tròn
Chính năm tù ngục, tủi hơn
Quê hương ơi! tấm lòng son không nhòa
Bây giờ vạn dặm cách xa
Ngùi trông lớp lớp bao la mây trời
Quãng Ngãi: quê mẹ tuyệt vời
Việt Nam: Tổ quốc trọn đời nhớ thương!
I felt myself bitterly painful in my nostalgia
Oh, wind! May I send you some heart-rending things
The vault of heaven in the past was immense
How could I forget my house in my early infancy!
The homeland was so far distant
How did my old gardening areas happen now?
Did the Dragon Bones Mountain still stand high?
Did the Ba Lien river keep as green as its color of time?
When the koel appealed to its flock
Did the cicada in the former jungle still resound with its sorrowful chirpings?
Did the row of tamarind-trees still grow on the roadside?
Did the bamboo hedge along the stream still involve in the late afternoon sun?
Did the rocks at the former ferry still maintain in moss-green color?
It was certainly that the Ong De temple still remains more supernatural powers?
Who did return to the small hamlet Binh Yen?
Did the Muong Xo span bridge keep particularly awaiting?
Was the Dan hill with its rocks still stand stock-still?
Was the Orphan dam still surely perpetually desolate?
Through so many changing events and shooting stars
Were Lotus Lake and Moony Bath still dazzlingly bright by the fragrant smell?
Mother went to the Chieu market at the near sunset
Please buy dry pancakes or your children shall be expecting
Since I was far away from home to hitherto
Continuously for ten years, I haven't recorded perfectly any verse yet
For nine years, I was sent in prison full of self-pity and resentment
Oh, my homeland! I always kept my loyalty without unfading
Living ten thousand leagues distant now
Laden with tearful sadness, I stared at stratus buy stratus of clouds over the immense skies
Quang Ngai: my superexcellent native land
Vietnam: my lovely motherland I cherished trustfully all my whole life!