Learn by Songs 2 — Day 1 — Seeing Meng Haoran Off to Guangling from Yellow Crane Tower
Li Bai (701-762), one of the greatest poets of the Tang dynasty, wrote this farewell poem for his close friend Meng Haoran, another celebrated poet, as Meng set off by boat down the Yangtze to Guangling (modern Yangzhou) in the lush spring month of the third lunar month. Rather than describing sadness directly, Li Bai spends the whole poem watching the boat until it disappears — letting the empty river do the emotional work.
Today's Vocabulary
故人
old friend
故人西辞黄鹤楼，
Gùrén xī cí Huánghè Lóu,
My old friend bids farewell to the west, at Yellow Crane Tower,
黄鹤楼
Yellow Crane Tower
故人西辞黄鹤楼，
Gùrén xī cí Huánghè Lóu,
My old friend bids farewell to the west, at Yellow Crane Tower,
孤帆
a lone sail
孤帆远影碧空尽，
Gū fān yuǎn yǐng bì kōng jìn,
The lone sail's distant shadow fades into the blue-green sky,
碧空
the blue-green sky
孤帆远影碧空尽，
Gū fān yuǎn yǐng bì kōng jìn,
The lone sail's distant shadow fades into the blue-green sky,
长江
the Yangtze River
唯见长江天际流。
Wéi jiàn Chángjiāng tiānjì liú.
I see only the Yangtze River flowing on toward the edge of the sky.
天际
the edge of the sky, horizon
唯见长江天际流。
Wéi jiàn Chángjiāng tiānjì liú.
I see only the Yangtze River flowing on toward the edge of the sky.
Today's Grammar
A seven-character quatrain (七言绝句), one step up in length and complexity from the five-character quatrains of Course 1. Notice how the final two lines never mention 'sadness' or 'missing you' at all — the lone sail vanishing into the sky and the river flowing on alone is the entire expression of feeling, a hallmark of classical Chinese restraint.
故人西辞黄鹤楼，
My old friend bids farewell to the west, at Yellow Crane Tower,
烟花三月下扬州。
in the misty blossoms of the third month, he travels down to Yangzhou.
孤帆远影碧空尽，
The lone sail's distant shadow fades into the blue-green sky,
唯见长江天际流。
I see only the Yangtze River flowing on toward the edge of the sky.