Wayside Roses

Guo Moruo

Rambling through a pine forest early in the morning, I came across a bunch of forsaken roses lying by the shady wayside. They were still fresh in colour. One was purplish-red, another pink, still another a sickly ivory-yellow slightly tinged with blood-red.

I picked them up in my hand.

The numerous fine dewdrops on the fresh green leaves clearly showed that the roses had just been cast away the previous night. Were they pitiful maidens deflowered by fickle men? Or were they unlucky young men fooled by frivolous women? Last night’s whispers of love; this morning’s drops of cold dew…

I brought the roses home and tried to find a flower vase to keep them in.

Flower vase I had none, but I did find in a nook of my room an empty earthen wine bottle with its neck broken. --O dear roses, though unable to treat you to spring wine, I could offer you limpid spring water and my sincere pure heart. Wouldn’t it be better for you to wither away in solitude in this broken earthen wine bottle than to lie abandoned by the roadside and be trodden down upon?

路畔的薔薇

郭沫若

清晨往松林里去散步，我在林蔭路畔發見了一束被遺棄了的薔薇。薔薇的花色還是鮮艷的，一朵紫紅，一朵嫩紅，一朵是病黃的象牙色中帶著幾分血暈(1)。

我把薔薇拾在手里了。

青翠的葉上已經凝集著細密的露珠，這顯然是昨夜被除人遺棄了的。這是可憐的少女受了薄幸的男子的欺紿?還是不幸的青年受了輕狂的的婦人的玩弄? 昨晚上甜蜜的私語，今朝的冷清的露珠……(2)

我把薔薇拿到家里來了，我想找個花瓶來供養它。

花瓶我沒有(3)，我在一只墻角上尋了一個斷了頸子的盛酒的土瓶。——薔薇喲，我雖然不能供養你以春酒，但我要供養你以清潔的流泉，清潔的素心。你在這破土瓶中雖然不免要凄凄寂寂地飄零(4)，但比遺棄在路旁被人踐踏了的好罷?