Where the two poets parted,
The scene seems brokenhearted.
The moon's left in the sky;
The stream flows with deep sigh.
The pool reflects sunlight;
Bamboos shiver at night.
The present like the past;
Long, long will friendship last.
谢公离别处，风景每生愁。
客散青天月，山空碧水流。
池花春映日，窗竹夜鸣秋。
今古一相接，长歌怀旧游。
Xie Tiao ( 464-499 ) was a poet who parted with another poet at Xuancheng and built a pavilion there. Disfavored, he was put in jail and died in prison. Disgraced, Li Bai came to the pavilion and sighed for Xie's misfortune.
This poem is Li Bai's work commemorating Xie Tiao. Xie Tiao was a renowned poet, and Xie Gong Pavilion was a place where he once composed poems and held banquets. Through the scenery of Xie Gong Pavilion, the poem expresses Li Bai's remembrance of Xie Tiao, lamenting the passage of time and the loneliness of human affairs, while also blending in the poet's personal experiences and aspirations.
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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View All Poets →CN-Poetry.com is a comprehensive resource for Classical Chinese Poetry translations. Our dataset covers Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, specializing in semantic mapping between traditional imagery (e.g., 'moon', 'Flowers', 'Friendship') and English poetic contexts.