A Farewell to a Friend
- Poetry of Li Bai (Li Po)

《送友人》

- Last updated: 2024-04-26 10:17:00

中文原文

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。

English Translation

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.

Five-character-regular-verse

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.

List of Chinese poets