Climbing White Stork Tower, Wang Zhihuan (Tang Shi #236)
Wednesday, 29 May 2019 09:55![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammerSun nears the mountain, disappears;
The Yellow River joins the sea.
I want to see a thousand li
And so ascend another floor.
登鹳雀楼
白日依山尽，
黄河入海流。
欲穷千里目，
更上一层楼。
A li is currently defined as half a kilometer—historically it varied but was roughly that. The tower was on a height overlooking the Yellow River, and had three stories.
The last line has become an idiom for scaling new heights. Literally it’s “one” floor, but context suggests the speaker is already partway up. Speaking of whom, I got nothing on the poet, who has one other poem in the collection.
(Rhymes ... but not matching the original's rhyming lines hmph.)
---L.
The Yellow River joins the sea.
I want to see a thousand li
And so ascend another floor.
登鹳雀楼
白日依山尽，
黄河入海流。
欲穷千里目，
更上一层楼。
A li is currently defined as half a kilometer—historically it varied but was roughly that. The tower was on a height overlooking the Yellow River, and had three stories.
The last line has become an idiom for scaling new heights. Literally it’s “one” floor, but context suggests the speaker is already partway up. Speaking of whom, I got nothing on the poet, who has one other poem in the collection.
(Rhymes ... but not matching the original's rhyming lines hmph.)
---L.