With a blue line of mountains north of the wall,
And east of the city a white curve of water,
Here you must leave me and drift away
Like a loosened water-plant hundreds of miles....
I shall think of you in a floating cloud;
So in the sunset think of me.
...We wave our hands to say good-bye,
And my horse is neighing again and again.
青山横北郭，白水绕东城。
此地一为别，孤蓬万里征。
浮云游子意，落日故人情。
挥手自兹去，萧萧班马鸣。
Composed during the Tang Dynasty, "Farewell to a Friend" (送友人) is a masterclass in the Wulu (five-character octet) format. Li Bai (701–762) utilizes perfect parallelism and vivid color contrasts to elevate a common social occasion into a timeless meditation on friendship and the transience of life.
The poem opens with a stunning visual frame: "Blue mountains north of the wall / White water east of the city." This use of chromatic imagery (Blue vs. White) creates a stable, peaceful backdrop. By anchoring the departure at a specific geographical junction, Li Bai emphasizes the permanence of the landscape in contrast to the impending movement of the traveler.
Li Bai employs two classic Chinese poetic tropes to describe the emotional state of the parting friends:
The Tumbleweed (孤蓬): The friend is compared to a "loosened water-plant" or tumbleweed, a symbol of the uncertain journey ahead. Once the bond is severed, the traveler is at the mercy of the wind, destined to drift thousands of miles.
Clouds and Sunset: In one of the most famous couplets in Chinese literature, Li Bai links human emotion to celestial movements. The "floating cloud" (浮云) represents the wandering mind of the traveler, while the "sunset" (落日) symbolizes the lingering, warm affection of the friend staying behind.
The poem concludes not with human crying, but with the "neighing of horses" (萧萧班马鸣). This use of auditory imagery suggests that even the animals sense the sorrow of the separation. By focusing on the horses’ reluctance to leave their companions, Li Bai provides a subtle, restrained, yet powerful ending to this masterpiece of classical Chinese aesthetics.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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