Parting from My Children at Nanling for the Capital
- Poetry of Li Bai (Li Po)

《南陵别儿童入京》

English Rendering

I come to hillside home when wine is newly brewed,

And yellow chicken feed on grains which autumn's strewed.

I call my lad to boil the fowl and pour the wine,

My children tug me by the sleeve,their faces shine.

I sing away to show my joy when wine is drunk;

I dance to vie in splendor with the sun half sunk.

Though it is late to offer service to the crown,

Still I will spur my horse on my way to renown.

The silly wife despised the talent not yet blest,

I'll leave my family and journey to the west.

Looking up at the sky,I laugh aloud and go.

Am I a man to crawl amid the brambles low?

Parting from My Children at Nanling for the Capital by Li Bai (Li Po)
Parting from My Children at Nanling for the Capital by Li Bai (Li Po)

Original Text (中文原文)

白酒新熟山中归,黄鸡啄黍秋正肥。

呼童烹鸡酌白酒,儿女嬉笑牵人衣。

高歌取醉欲自慰,起舞落日争光辉。

游说万乘苦不早,著鞭跨马涉远道。

会稽愚妇轻买臣,余亦辞家西入秦。

仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人。

Analysis & Context

This is a ballad-style piece crafted by Li Bai, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty. Employing the narrative fu mode that recounts events directly, the poem also incorporates the rhetorical devices of bi (metaphor) and xing (affective image), weaving narration with commentary and combining direct depiction with indirect foiling. In its bold and unrestrained poetic tone, the work brims with the poet’s vigorous and unrestrained zeal for life as well as his impassioned and uplifting enterprising spirit, vividly capturing his eagerness to be employed by the court and his elated demeanor of being overwhelmed by imperial favor. The poem as a whole fully expresses the poet’s immense joy at the prospect of fulfilling his political aspirations and his bold, self-assured state of mind.

Reader's Companion

The Essence of the Verse

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.

Reading Between the Lines

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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