<Song of Southern Country> Farewell to a Friend
- Poetry of Su Shi
Turning my head,I find rugged mountains bar the sky,
I can no longer see you in the town.
Who can be like the hilltop tower looking down,So high?
It welcomed you from the west and bids you goodbye.
I come back at dusk in a gentle breeze.
On chilly pillow how can I dream with ease?
Where will the flickering lamp shed its lonely light Tonight?
When autumn rain no longer falls drop by drop,
Oh,will tears stop?
Composed in July 1074 during Su Shi's tenure as Hangzhou's deputy magistrate, this cí bids farewell to his dear colleague Chen Xiang (styled Shugu). When Chen was reassigned to Shangqiu (southern capital), Su Shi accompanied him to Linping Mountain's foothills before writing this lyrical meditation on separation. The work's brilliance lies in transforming a single backward glance into an enduring portrait of friendship's spatial and emotional geography.
回首乱山横。不见居人只见城。谁似临平山上塔，亭亭。迎客西来送客行。
归路晚风清。一枕初寒梦不成。今夜残灯斜照处，荧荧。秋雨晴时泪不晴。
- Why Chinese poems is so special?
- The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
- How to read a Chinese poem?
- Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.
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