Bo Wang
Original poem
Across the wall of Sanqin, across a layer of fog, across a river.
We said goodbye sadly, and our two officials went in opposite directions.
After all, the world is just a small place.
Why are you wandering at the fork in the road? The child is holding a towel.
Note: refers to the ancient capital Chang 'an. Auxiliary: escort. Sanqin: generally refers to the land of Guanzhong near Chang 'an at that time. It is the ancient state of Qin. After the death of Qin, Xiang Yu divided his land into three kingdoms: Yong, Sai and Zhai, so he called it Sanqin. Wujin: Five ferries on the Yangtze River in Sichuan.
This is a famous farewell poem, which was written by Du Fu, the deputy governor of Shu (now chongzhou city, Sichuan) when he was in Chang 'an.
The first couplet: "across the Sanqin wall, across a layer of fog, across a river." Starting from the scenery, the antithesis is quite neat. "The wall around Sanqin District from here" is an inverted sentence, which actually means "Sanqin Auxiliary City Que", meaning that the walls and palaces of Chang 'an are guarded by the land of Sanqin. This sentence sweeps away the bleak image of the usual farewell poems in the past and is magnificent. The next sentence is "separated by a layer of fog, so that the five rivers are one." Wujin refers to the five major ferries of the Yangtze River in Sichuan, generally referring to Zhou Shu. Here, the poet uses the word "king" to cross time and space and connect two places thousands of miles apart. "Wind smoke" played a role in rendering the parting atmosphere here, which led to the following situation.
Zhuan Xu: "We say goodbye sadly, and our two officials go the opposite way." This is what the poet said. The poet did not continue to describe the feeling of parting, but instead said, you and I are both business travelers far from home, and we should all understand this feeling. Maybe I have too many thoughts, or maybe I can't talk. The poet deliberately omitted the description of many thoughts here, leaving a blank for readers to fill, increasing the space for infinite imagination.
Parting is always sad, but the poet does not stay in sadness. With a stroke of the pen, the artistic conception was broadened: "However, China keeps our friendship, and heaven is still our neighbor." This sentence seems to be inspired by Cao Zhi's "ambition everywhere, Wan Li is still close to its neighbors", but Cao Zhi's sentence emphasizes ambition everywhere, while Wang Bo's sentence emphasizes that friends focus on intimacy, and heaven remains our neighbourhood. This sentence sublimates friendship to a higher aesthetic realm, which has long been a famous sentence.
Tail couplet followed the previous triple to comfort Du Shaofu. "Why linger at the fork in the road, children * * * stained with towels." Parting often breaks up at the fork in the road, and the "fork in the road" once again takes care of the meaning of farewell. This sentence is the poet's words to comfort Du Shaofu when he is about to break up. Don't wipe your tears when you break up. Like a child, as long as your soul mate is far away, isn't it close at hand?
This poem fully shows the poet's broad-minded mind and sincerity to friendship. The whole poem is full of ups and downs, pulsating flow and broad-minded artistic conception. Wash away the sadness in ancient farewell poems, with a bright tone, fresh and lofty, and unique.