2 Poems by Guo Moruo

The Celestial Market Street

The street lights are on in a distance
As if numerous stars show.
The bright stars loom in the above
As if numerous street lights glow.

I believe there must be a beautiful market street
In that aerial heaven with cloud clear.
The goods displayed on that street
Must be rarities which we don’t have here.

You see, that shallow Milky Way
Must be not very wide.
The cowherd and weaving lady separated by it
Must be able to visit each other on a ride.

I believe at this moment along that street
Sauntering there must be they.
If you doubt, please look at that shooting star,
Which may be the lantern they are taking on their way.


The Coal in the Furnace
—My emotion for Motherland

Alas! My youthful lass,
I will live up to your grace,
You, too, will care for my caress.
I burn my heart to excess
For my dear lass!

Alas! My youthful lass,
You may have known my trace?
You don’t care for me as a careless black mass?
Only the bosom of a black mass
A fiery heart in it has.

Alas! My youthful lass,
If myself I trace,
I must have been a useful column, I guess.
I’ve been long buried deep and base
Until today can I re-see the sunrays.

Alas! My youthful lass,
Since I have re-seen the sunrays,
I often miss my homeland, nonetheless.
I burn my heart to excess
For my dear lass!
Composed in December, 1920


Bionote

Guo Moruo (1892—1978), originally named Guo Kaizhen, was a native of Shawan Town, Leshan County, Sichuan Province. He went to study in Japan in 1914. after his return to China in 1923, he co-sponsored “the Creation Society” with Yu Dafu, Tian Han and others. He took part in the Northern Expedition. After the October of 1949, he was chairman of China’s Federation of Literary and Art Circles and president of Chinese Academia of Sciences. Goddess, Starry Sky, Vase, Foremost, etc. are his major collections of poems. His Complete Works of Guo Moruo is known to the world.
（Tr. by Yang Xu）

天上的街市
-- 郭沫若

远远的街灯明了，
好像闪着无数的明星。
天上的明星现了，
好像点着无数的街灯。

我想那缥缈的空中，
定有美丽的街市。
街市上陈列的一些物品，
定然是世上没有的珍奇。

你看，那浅浅的天河，
定然是不甚宽广。
那隔河的牛郎织女，
定能够骑着牛儿来往。

我想他们此刻，
定能在天街闲游。
不信，请看那朵流星，
那怕是他们提着灯笼在走。

炉中煤
——眷恋祖国的情绪

啊，我年青的女郎！
我不辜负你的殷勤，
你也不要辜负了我的思量。
我为我心爱的人儿，
燃到了这般模样！

啊，我年青的女郎！
你该知道了我的前身？
你该不嫌我黑奴卤莽？
要我这黑奴的胸中，
才有火一样的心肠。

啊，我年青的女郎！
我想我的前身，
原本是有用的栋梁，
我活埋在地底多年，
到今朝总得重见天光。

啊，我年青的女郎！
我自从重见天光，
我常常思念我的故乡，
我为我心爱的人儿，
燃到了这般模样！
1920年12月间作

作者简介：
郭沫若（1892—1978），原名郭开贞，四川乐山县沙湾镇人。1914年赴日留学，1923年回国后，与郁达夫、田汉等人创办“创造社”。参加过北伐 战争。1949年10月后，曾任中国文联主席、中国科学院院长等职。主要作品有：诗集《女神》、《星空》、《瓶》、《前茅》等。另有《郭沫若全集》行世。