元稹（779～831），字微之，别字威明，河南洛阳（今属河南）人，唐代诗人。早年家贫。举贞元九年明经科，十九年书判拔萃科，曾任监察御史，因得罪宦官及守旧官僚，遭到贬斥，后转而依附宦官，官至同中书门下平章事，最后以暴疾卒于武昌军节度使任上。
元稹的创作，以诗的成就最大。他与白居易齐名，并称“元白”，同为新乐府运动的倡导者。元稹生前曾自编其诗集、文集、与友人之合集多种。其本集收录诗赋、诏册、铭诔、论议等共100卷，题为《元氏长庆集》。
遣悲怀·其一
谢公最小偏怜女，自嫁黔娄百事乖。
顾我无衣搜荩箧，泥他沽酒拔金钗。
野蔬充膳甘长藿，落叶添薪仰古槐。
今日俸钱过十万，与君营奠复营斋。
An Elegy I
O youngest，best-loved daughter of Xie，
Who unluckily married this penniless scholar，
You patched my clothes from your own wicker basket，
And I coaxed off your hairpins of gold，to buy wine with；
For dinner we had to pick wild herbs—
And to use dry locust-leaves for our kindling.
Today they are paying me a hundred thousand—
And all that I can bring to you is a temple sacrifice.
遣悲怀·其二
昔日戏言身后事，今朝都到眼前来。
衣裳已施行看尽，针线犹存未忍开。
尚想旧情怜婢仆，也曾因梦送钱财。
诚知此恨人人有，贫贱夫妻百事哀。
An Elegy II
We joked，long ago，about one of us dying，
But suddenly，before my eyes，you are gone.
Almost all your clothes have been given away；
Your needlework is sealed，I dare not look at it...
I continue your bounty to our men and our maids—
Sometimes，in a dream，I bring you gifts.
This is a sorrow that all mankind must know—
But not as those know it who have been poor together.
遣悲怀·其三
闲坐悲君亦自悲，百年多是几多时。
邓攸无子寻知命，潘岳悼亡犹费词。
同穴窅冥何所望，他生缘会更难期。
惟将终夜常开眼，报答平生未展眉。
An Elegy III
I sit here alone，mourning for us both.
How many years do I lack now of my threescore and ten？
There have been better men than I to whom heaven denied a son，
There was a poet better than I whose dead wife could not hear him.
What have I to hope for in the darkness of our tomb？
You and I had little faith in a meeting after death—
Yet my open eyes can see all night
That lifelong trouble of your brow.
