Staying on the River in Tonglu, Sent to an Old Friend in Guangling, Meng Haoran (300 Tang Shi #130)

As mountains darken, I hear anxious apes.
The dark green river swiftly flows at night.
The wind is rustling leaves upon both banks.
The moon shines on a single lonely boat.
This Jiande’s not a native land of mine.
As I recall, my old friend’s in Weiyang—
So I will send off these two streams of tears
To distant you, within the Sea’s West Head.

宿桐庐江，寄广陵旧游
山暝听猿愁，
沧江急夜流。
风鸣两岸叶，
月照一孤舟。
建德非吾土，
维扬忆旧游。
还将两行泪，
遥寄海西头。

Back to Meng Haoran'a regulated verse. Tonglu and Jiande are cities not far apart on the banks of the Fuchun River southwest of Hangzhou, Zhejiang, while Guangling and Weiyang are the central districts of Yangzhou, Jiangsu, in the Yangzi delta, about 200 miles north. Why use one pair of names in the title and another in the text, I don’t understand. The sea’s western head is the Yangzi delta, west of the Yellow Sea.

---L.