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Island 43

囚困木屋天復天
自由東縛豈堪言
舉目誰歡惟静坐
關心自悶不成眠
日永樽空愁莫解
夜長枕冷倩誰憐
參透箇中孤苦味
何如歸去學耕田

Imprisoned in the wooden building day after day,
My freedom withheld; how can I bear to talk about it?
I look to see who is happy, but they only sit quietly.
I am anxious and depressed and cannot fall asleep.
The days are long and the bottle constantly empty; my sad mood, even so, is not dispelled.
Nights are long and the pillow cold; who can pity my loneliness?
After experiencing such loneliness and sorrow,
Why not just return home and learn to plow the fields?

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 127

旅居木屋暗傷神
轉眼韶光莫認真
寄語埃崙將來者
翹頭應望是中人

Away from home and living in the wooden building, I am secretly grieved.
Splendor fades with the turn of an eye, so be not too earnest.
I leave words with those who will come to Island in the future.
You should raise your head and observe the people.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 53

自己想來真苦楚
蒼天今日因如何
困我鄙人在木樓
音信無跡實難過

When I think about it, it is really miserable.
For what reason does the blue heaven today
Imprison this humble person in a wooden building?
With no trace of tidings, it is really distressing

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 40

埃崙山半樓上樓
囚困離人夏至秋
夢繞三勻歸故里
腸迴九曲偽西歐
時運不濟空自悶
命途多阻共誰憂
倘得他時登美岸
畢拋牢惨付水流

Halfway up the hill on Island, in the building upstairs,
The imprisoned one has been separated from his people summer to autumn.
Three times I dreamed of returning to the native village.
My intestines are agitated in their nine turns by the false Westerner.
I have run into hard times and am uselessly depressed.
There are many obstacles in life, but who will commiserate with me?
If at a later time I am allowed to land on the American shore,
I will toss all the miseries of this jail to the flowing current.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Translations:
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.