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lnhammerI watch my lord in mist and waters broad,
Waving my hand, tears soaking all my clothes—
A flying bird who fades to who knows where.
Blue mountains blankly face the traveling man.
The Yangzi now: a single sail grown distant—
The setting sun: the Five Lakes in the spring.
Who sees me here upon this sandy islet
Together, with white duckweeds, feeling anxious?
饯别王十一南游
望君烟水阔，
挥手泪沾巾。
飞鸟没何处？
青山空向人。
长江一帆远，
落日五湖春。
谁见汀洲上，
相思愁白苹？
The title specifies that this was recited during the farewell dinner, IOW the night before the departure, but the poem describes the departure itself. (Some commentaries claim the “dinner” is actually a farewell toast, but I’m dubious.) Makes one wonder just how many other seeing-off and farewell poems actually are of the actual moment. Eleven is not Wang’s personal name, but indicates he’s the eleventh son of his generation of paternal cousins. Added in translation: traveling, for clarity. The Five Lakes are Lake Tai and neighbors near Suzhou, west of modern Shanghai. Duckweed is a water plant that floats, minimally rooted, which makes it an ideal symbol for a traveler; this particular variety has white flowers.
---L.
Waving my hand, tears soaking all my clothes—
A flying bird who fades to who knows where.
Blue mountains blankly face the traveling man.
The Yangzi now: a single sail grown distant—
The setting sun: the Five Lakes in the spring.
Who sees me here upon this sandy islet
Together, with white duckweeds, feeling anxious?
饯别王十一南游
望君烟水阔，
挥手泪沾巾。
飞鸟没何处？
青山空向人。
长江一帆远，
落日五湖春。
谁见汀洲上，
相思愁白苹？
The title specifies that this was recited during the farewell dinner, IOW the night before the departure, but the poem describes the departure itself. (Some commentaries claim the “dinner” is actually a farewell toast, but I’m dubious.) Makes one wonder just how many other seeing-off and farewell poems actually are of the actual moment. Eleven is not Wang’s personal name, but indicates he’s the eleventh son of his generation of paternal cousins. Added in translation: traveling, for clarity. The Five Lakes are Lake Tai and neighbors near Suzhou, west of modern Shanghai. Duckweed is a water plant that floats, minimally rooted, which makes it an ideal symbol for a traveler; this particular variety has white flowers.
---L.