212. Farewell | Wang Wei
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
山中相送罢，日暮掩柴扉。
English translation
After seeing you off in the mountains, at dusk I close the brushwood gate.
The poem begins after the farewell and omits the parting itself. Closing the gate is a small, quiet act, but it leaves the emptiness after the friend's departure inside the house.
Original Chinese text
春草明年绿，王孙归不归？
English translation
Next year the spring grass will grow green again; but will the traveler return?
Wangsun, literally royal descendant, is a conventional name for one who has gone away and here refers to the departing friend. The grass has a season it can be trusted to keep; the person's return has no such certainty.
赏析 · Commentary
送别之后，诗才开始 · The Poem Begins After the Farewell
很多送别诗写临行时的酒、路和叮嘱，这首诗把那些都省去了。第一句只说“相送罢”，第二句已经到了关门时分。镜头跟着留下来的人，不跟着远行者。友人走远以后，日暮、柴门和空山才显出分量。
Many farewell poems dwell on wine, the road, and last instructions. This one leaves them out. The first line says only that the seeing-off is over; by the second, it is already time to close the gate. The poem stays with the person left behind rather than following the traveler. Only after the friend has gone do dusk, the gate, and the mountain acquire their weight.
草会回来，人未必 · The Grass Will Return; the Friend May Not
结尾把确定和不确定放在一起。春草明年必绿，这是季节的循环；朋友何时归来，没有人知道。问句不要求回答，它只是把等待延长到下一个春天。短短四句没有直说思念，时间已经替诗人说完了。
The close places certainty beside uncertainty. Spring grass will green again: the seasons guarantee it. No one can guarantee when the friend will return. The question asks for no answer; it simply extends the waiting into another spring. The poem never names longing, because time has already said enough.