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Island 61

無聊百感困監樓
觸景愁人淚怎收
曾記動輪來美境
迄今回溯月返流

Bored and filled with a hundred feelings, I am imprisoned in the building.
Seeing the surroundings stirs one who is sad. How can one stop the tears?
I recall the ship starting off for the land of America.
Looking back, the moon has repeated a cycle.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 114

梯航遠涉歷重洋
風餐露宿苦自嘗
蘇武淪胡歸有日
文公遇雪嘆當年
自古英雄多磨折
到底男兒志未伸
滿腹苦衷聊代表
留為紀念勵同魂

中華民國六年三月十三日

On a long voyage I traveled across the sea.
Feeding on wind and sleeping on dew, I tasted hardships.
Even though Su Wu was detained among the barbarians, he would one day return home.
When he encountered a snowstorm, Wengong sighed, thinking of bygone years.
In days of old, heroes underwent many ordeals.
I am, in the end, a man whose goal is unfulfilled.
Let this be an expression of the torment that fills my belly.
Leave this as a memento to encourage fellow souls.

13th day of the third month in the sixth year of the Republic

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Island 8

國民不為甘為牛
意至美洲作營謀
洋樓高聳無緣住
誰知棲所是監牢

Instead of remaining a citizen of China, I willingly became an ox.
I intended to come to America to earn a living.
The Western-style buildings are lofty, but I have not the luck to live in them.
How was anyone to know that my dwelling place would be a prison?

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 9

夙幕花旗幾優哉
即時籌款動程來
風波閱月已歷盡
監牢居所受災磨
仰望屋崙相咫尺
願回祖國負耕鋤
滿腹牢騷難寢寐
聊書數句表心裁

I used to admire the land of the Flowery Flag as a country of abundance.
I immediately raised money and started my journey.
For over a month, I have experienced enough winds and waves.
Now on an extended sojourn in jail, I am subject to the ordeals of prison life.
I look up and see Oakland so close by.
I wish to go back to my motherland to carry the farmer's hoe.
Discontent fills my belly, and it is difficult for me to sleep.
I just write these few lines to express what is on my mind.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 72

憑欄翹首望雲天
一片山河盡黯然
東蒙失陷歸無日
中原恢復賴青年
誅奸惟有常山舌
殺賊須揚祖逖鞭
憶我埃崙如蜷伏
傷心故國復何言

I lean on the railing and lift my head to look at the cloudy sky.
All the mountains and rivers are dark.
Eastern Mongolia is lost, and the date of her return is uncertain.
The recovery of the Central Plains depends on the youth.
Only the tongue of Changshan can slay the villainous.
To kill the bandit, we must wave the whip of Zu Ti.
I am ashamed to be curled up like a worm on Island.
I grieve for my native land, but what else can I say?

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Voices 11

漂泊七萬里長途只願得到花旗異日營 [ 業 ] 口
我榮歸還故鄉
疲勞二十年心血何期留住埃崙他方落既一
場美事付汪洋

I wandered on a long journey of 70,000 miles,
All from a desire to reach the land of the Flowery Flag.
I hoped that one day when my business was successful,
I’d return in glory to my hometown.
I’ve exhausted my mind and body for twenty years—
How much longer must I stay on this island?
When somewhere I find a place and settle down,
My beautiful dream will be consigned to the vast sea.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 26

四壁蟲唧唧
居人多歎息
思及家中事
不覺淚沾滴

The insects chirp outside the four walls.
The inmates often sigh.
Thinking of affairs back home,
Unconscious tears wet my lapel.

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.