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Island 15

拋妻子重洋歷盡不知受幾多風霜
祇為家貧求白壁
別親朋萬里飄流難計捱一切雨雪
都緣囊澀重青蚨

Abandoning wife and child, I crossed an entire ocean. I do not know how much wind and frost I've weathered; it was because my family was poor that I searched for white jade.
Bidding farewell to relatives and friends, I drifted ten thousand li. It is difficult to keep track of all the rain and snow I've endured; it is all due to an empty purse and my reverence for copper coins.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Voices 10

聞得花旗新埠開故起踴躍動程來
在處木樓聽消息未知何日得栽培
當初曾元養曾子誰知顏路哭顏回
審查之時無一語故 [ 去 ] 收拾撥返來
[ 遊 ] 子船費日烏有恰似太公坐釣台

I heard that in the land of the Flowery Flag, a new city was rising;
I stood up, jumped for joy, and began my journey.
Dwelling in the wooden building, I’ve heard news,
And now I don’t know when I’ll be able to help it grow.
In the beginning, Zeng Yuan raised Master Zeng;
Who could have known that Yan Lu would cry for Yan Hui?
When I was interrogated, I didn’t say a word,
And now I’m packing up and being deported.
This wanderer doesn’t have funds for another ship passage now,
So I’ll bide my time, like the Grand Duke on the fishing pier.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 113

風塵作客走西東
不料今時到監中
因洩機謀山中困
何籌韜略出潛龍
子胥忍藏能雪恨
孫臏忍辱復仇功
我今搂回歸國去
他日富強滅番邦

As a traveler weathering wind and dust, I ran east and west,
But I never expected now to wind up in a prison.
Because my plan was leaked, I am now in difficult straits on the mountain.
How will I devise a strategy so that the hidden dragon can emerge?
Wu Zixu, who endured and hid, was able to redress his grievance.
Sun Bin endured humiliation and was successful in avenging his wrongs.
I am now being deported and sent back to my country.
Someday when we become rich and strong, we will annihilate this barbaric nation.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 22

上年六月始揚帆
不料今時到此監
耗費金錢千數百
生平孤苦累家兄

The ship set sail last year in the sixth moon.
I did not expect to be in this prison now.
I squandered a thousand and several hundred coins.
All my life I have been wretched, helpless, and now my troubles have implicated my elder brother.

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.