Yi Gyubo 李奎報
early 13th century · Goryeo Korea
My little girl's face was white as snow, and how bright she was I cannot fully tell. At two she could already speak, rounder-tongued than a parrot. At three she seemed shy of strangers and never played beyond the gate. This year she had just turned four and was learning quite well to sew. Why were you snatched away and taken back, gone as suddenly as startled lightning?
小女面如雪 聦慧難具說
二齡已能言 圓於鸚鵡舌
三歲似恥人 遊不越門闑
今年方四齡 頗能學組綴
胡爲遭奪歸 倏若駭電滅Dongguk Yi Sangguk jip, "Mourning My Little Daughter"
In the same thread
Heo Nanseolheon 許蘭雪軒
1580s · Joseon Korea
Last year I lost my beloved daughter. This year I lost my beloved son. Sorrow, sorrow, the earth of Gwangneung, where two small graves rise face to face.
去年喪愛女 今年喪愛子
哀哀廣陵土 雙墳相對起Nanseolheon sijip, "Weeping for My Children"
Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之
c. 935 · Heian Japan · Boarding the ship, leaving behind the little daughter who died at his post
Even as I think "home to the capital," what makes it sad is that there is one who will not be going back.
都へとおもふもものゝかなしきはかへらぬ人のあればなりけりTosa Diary (Tosa nikki)
1 in 100 Billion · The social network of those who came before us