ChineseStudy

254. Seeing Meng Haoran Off to Guangling | Li Bai

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English translation

My old friend takes leave of Yellow Crane Tower in the west and travels downstream to Yangzhou amid the mist and blossoms of the third month.

The phrase mist and blossoms evokes hazy air, willow down, and abundant spring flowers, not fireworks. He descends to Yangzhou by following the Yangtze eastward; the western farewell locates the tower upriver from his destination.

The distant shape of his lone sail fades into the blue horizon; all I can see is the Yangtze flowing to the edge of the sky.

Lone does not require an empty river. It means that the poet's gaze singles out his friend's boat. Even after the sail disappears, he continues watching the water, extending the farewell beyond the point at which the traveler can be seen.

赏析 · Commentary

视线怎样完成送别 · A Farewell Carried by the Gaze

四句诗没有写饯行对话，也没有写离人的神情。前两句交代朋友从哪里到哪里，后两句只跟随一叶帆。船从近处驶向远处，从清晰变成一点影子，再完全消失；诗人的视线却没有收回。送别因此不是一个动作，而是一段持续的观看。

The four lines contain no parting conversation and no description of the traveler's face. The first couplet marks origin and destination; the second follows a sail. The boat moves from near to far, from clear form to a speck, then vanishes altogether, yet the poet does not look away. Farewell becomes not a single gesture but an extended act of watching.

繁盛三月衬出的离情 · Parting Amid the Fullness of Spring

扬州、三月、烟花，本来都让人想到繁华和游赏。李白没有用萧瑟景物配离别，而是把朋友送进最明丽的季节。正因为旅途令人向往，惜别才不显得沉郁；正因为景色如此开阔，最后那个久久站在江边的人又格外清楚。

Yangzhou, the third month, mist, and blossoms suggest prosperity and pleasure. Li Bai does not surround departure with desolate scenery; he sends his friend into the brightest season. Because the journey is inviting, the sadness does not become oppressive. Because the landscape is so open, the figure who remains watching by the river stands out all the more clearly.

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