What are you thinking as we part from one another,
Pulling in our horses for the stirrup-cups?
Do these tear-streaks mean Wu Valley monkeys all weeping,
Or wildgeese returning with news from Heng Mountain?....
On the river between green maples an autumn sail grows dim,
There are only a few old trees by the wall of the White God City....
But the year is bound to freshen us with a dew of heavenly favour --
Take heart, we shall soon be together again!
嗟君此别意何如，驻马衔杯问谪居。
巫峡啼猿数行泪，衡阳归雁几封书。
青枫江上秋帆远，白帝城边古木疏。
圣代即今多雨露，暂时分手莫踌躇。
Seven-character-regular-verse
This poem was composed by the High Tang poet Gao Shi. Gao Shi is renowned for his frontier fortress poetry, characterized by its lofty spirit and majestic vigor. However, this farewell poem reveals a different, deeply tender and warm-hearted facet of his character. The entire poem is sincere in emotion and dignified in bearing. It possesses both a clear-eyed understanding of reality and an optimistic hope for the future, making it an outstanding example of Tang farewell poetry that excels in both feeling and artistic charm.
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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