43. Farewell in a Jinling Tavern | Li Bai

诗不从伤感写起，先写风、柳花、香气、新酒、招呼客人的吴姬。全是春天和热闹。等第四句说到送行，读者才发现这场热闹是为了什么。李白把离别放进一个好日子的正中间，正因为外头一切都好，走起来才更不那么好受。

The poem does not start from sadness; it starts with wind, willow catkins, scent, new wine, and the Wu girl calling the guests. All spring and bustle. By the fourth line, when the seeing-off arrives, the reader sees what the liveliness was for. Li Bai puts the parting in the middle of a good day, and because everything outside is fine, leaving is that much less fine.

这四个字说的是双方的心思挤在一处：行李已经收好，脚却迈不动；送的人劝他多喝一杯，其实是不想他走。李白不写谁说了什么，只给一个卡住的场面。全诗的重量就落在这个卡住的瞬间上，比任何一句惜别的话都实在。

Those four words hold both parties' feelings jammed together: the bags are packed and the feet will not move; the ones seeing him off urge one more cup, which is really a wish that he stay. Li Bai does not report what anyone said, only a scene stuck in place. The weight of the poem lands on that stuck moment, more solid than any line of regret could be.

结句把离情和江水放在一起比长短。李白自己也知道比不出来，可是偏要问，偏让对方去问水。比不出来的那一部分，正好是说不清的那一部分。全诗前面都是具体的：风、花、酒、人；到最后一句忽然抽象，反而收得住。

The closing line sets the reluctance to part and the river side by side to see which is longer. Li Bai knows it cannot be compared, and asks anyway, and sends the other man to ask the water. The part that cannot be compared is exactly the part that cannot be said. Everything before is concrete — wind, flowers, wine, people — and the last line turns abstract all at once, and it holds.