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lnhammerMy light skiff departs South Cottage:
North Cottage is hard to reach by water.
I gaze at homes on the distant shore—
So far, we can’t discern each other’s.
My lone boat’s truly at its mooring
On the lake-bank by South Cottage.
The setting sun goes down in Yanzi;
Soft waves die out, spread on the waters.
南垞
轻舟南垞去，
北垞淼难即。
隔浦望人家，
遥遥不相识。
孤舟信一泊，
南垞湖水岸。
落日下崦嵫，
清波殊淼漫。
Hints of the departure of the friend. Wang’s last line can also be understood as “I can't discern my own,” but if Pei is gently mocking him, as he so often seems to be, “each other’s” is more readily recognizable as something to mock. Yanzi is a mountain in modern Gansu with a cave the setting sun supposedly disappears into. The character 垞 (chá) typically appears only in place names with the meaning “small hill,” but a very old dictionary gives an obsolete meaning of a dwelling and cites Wang’s poem as a usage.
---L.
North Cottage is hard to reach by water.
I gaze at homes on the distant shore—
So far, we can’t discern each other’s.
My lone boat’s truly at its mooring
On the lake-bank by South Cottage.
The setting sun goes down in Yanzi;
Soft waves die out, spread on the waters.
南垞
轻舟南垞去，
北垞淼难即。
隔浦望人家，
遥遥不相识。
孤舟信一泊，
南垞湖水岸。
落日下崦嵫，
清波殊淼漫。
Hints of the departure of the friend. Wang’s last line can also be understood as “I can't discern my own,” but if Pei is gently mocking him, as he so often seems to be, “each other’s” is more readily recognizable as something to mock. Yanzi is a mountain in modern Gansu with a cave the setting sun supposedly disappears into. The character 垞 (chá) typically appears only in place names with the meaning “small hill,” but a very old dictionary gives an obsolete meaning of a dwelling and cites Wang’s poem as a usage.
---L.