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Island 44

木屋銘

樓不在高有窗則明
島不在遠煙治埃崙
嗟此木屋阻我行程
四壁油漆綠
週圍草色青
喧嘩多鄉里
守夜有巡丁
可以施運動孔方兄
有孩子之亂耳
無咕嗶之勞形
南望醫生房
西瞭陸軍營
作者云何樂之有

Inscription about a Wooden Building

A building does not have to be tall; if it has windows, it will be bright.
Island is not far, Angel Island.
Alas, this wooden building disrupts my traveling schedule.
Paint on the four walls is green,
And green is the grass that surrounds.
It is noisy because of the many country folk,
And there are watchmen guarding during the night.
To exert influence, one can use a square-holed elder brother.
There are children who disturb the ears,
But there are no incoherent sounds that cause fatigue.
I gaze to the south at the hospital
And look to the west at the army camp.
This author says, "What happiness is there in this?"

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 71

兩經滄海歷風塵
木屋羈留倍痛深
國弱亟當齊努力
狂瀾待挽仗同群

Twice I have passed through the blue ocean, experienced the wind and dust of journey.
Confinement in the wooden building has pained me doubly.
With a weak country, we must all join together in urgent effort.
It depends on all of us together to roll back the wild wave.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Voices 25

又題七絕一首

天涯漂泊悔風塵
口口棲 [ 居 ] 屈劫身
口口應知民族胶
口口牛馬任他人

西文鄒題

[I here] inscribe another heptasyllabic quatrain poem.

I wandered across the world, and endured much hardship;
Now I dwell in a wooden building, and suffer coercion and abuse.
Compatriots should know that our race is despised;
Let it be others who labor like oxen and horses.

Inscribed by Zou Xiwen

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 39

雄鷹亦易馴
能屈始能伸
也歷千年劫
曾困七日陳
偉人多本色
名士樂天真
得失縈懷抱
心猿證悟禪

The male eagle is also easy to tame.
One must be able to bend before one can stretch.
China experienced calamities for a thousand years.
Confucius was surrounded in Chen for seven days.
Great men exhibit quality;
Scholars take pride in being themselves.
Gains and losses are entangled in my bosom.
My restlessness elicits self-awakening.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 121

批消半載無消息
誰知今日撥回唐
船中推浪珠淚落
清夜三思苦難堪

For half a year after I had been refused entry, I heard no news.
Who was to know that today I would be deported and sent back to Tang?
On the ship, I will have to endure the waves; teardrops fall.
On a clear night, thinking it over three times, the bitterness is difficult to bear.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Translations:
Egan, Charles. Voices of Angel Island: Inscriptions and Immigrant Poetry, 1910-1945. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021.
Lai, H. Mark, Genny Lim, and Judy Yung, eds. Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940. Second edition. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2014.