A Brief But Happy Meeting With My Brother-in Law "Meeting By Accident, Only To Part"
- Poetry of Li Yi

《喜见外弟又言别》

English Rendering

After these ten torn wearisome years

We have met again. We were both so changed

That hearing first your surname, I thought you a stranger --

Then hearing your given name, I remembered your young face....

All that has happened with the tides

We have told and told till the evening bell....

Tomorrow you journey to Youzhou,

Leaving autumn between us, peak after peak.

A Brief But Happy Meeting With My Brother-in Law "Meeting By Accident, Only To Part" by Li Yi
A Brief But Happy Meeting With My Brother-in Law "Meeting By Accident, Only To Part" by Li Yi

Original Text (中文原文)

十年离乱后,长大一相逢。

问姓惊初见,称名忆旧容。

别来沧海事,语罢暮天钟。

明日巴陵道,秋山又几重。

Analysis & Context

Five-character-regular-verse

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.

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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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