小時候

When I was a little kid

鄉(xiāng)愁是一枚小小的郵票

Yearning was a tiny stamp

我在這頭

I was here

母親在那頭

My mom was there

長大后，

As I grow up

鄉(xiāng)愁是一張窄窄的船票

Yearning was a small steamer ticket

我在這頭

I was here

新娘在那頭

My bride was there

后來啊

Days afterwards

鄉(xiāng)愁是一方矮矮的墳墓

Yearning was a short tomb

我在外頭

Loafing around outside the world

母親在里頭

But mother was of slience for ever

而現(xiàn)在

At the moment

鄉(xiāng)愁是一灣淺淺的海峽

Yearning is a shallow strait

我在這頭

Watching through a mountain of people

大陸在那頭。

But I , was never born in my homeland.

注：很多人把鄉(xiāng)愁翻譯為“homesick”，這是錯誤的。然而，homesick真正的意思是：You feel unhappy because you are far from your home。與詩中的鄉(xiāng)愁不完全一樣，所以用Yearning更為恰當，表示你對遠方有一種極度的向往及思念，但卻無力抵達。