The full text of the poem "The Yellow Crane Tower sends Meng Haoran to Guangling" - Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty
The old friend left the Yellow Crane Tower in the west, and the fireworks went down to Yangzhou in March.
The shadow of the lone sail in the distance is gone in the blue sky, and only the Yangtze River can be seen flowing in the sky.
Vernacular translation: My friend said goodbye to me at the Yellow Crane Tower, and went on a long trip to Yangzhou in March when catkins were like smoke and flowers were blooming. The silhouette of the lone boat and sail gradually disappeared at the end of the blue sky, and only the rolling Yangtze River was seen rushing towards the sky.
Extended information
1. Creative background of "Yellow Crane Tower Sends Meng Haoran to Guangling"
While living in Anlu, Li Bai met a man who was twelve years older than him. Meng Haoran and soon became close friends. In March of 730 AD (the eighteenth year of Kaiyuan), Li Bai learned that Meng Haoran was going to Guangling (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu), and asked Meng Haoran to meet him in Jiangxia (now Wuchang District, Wuhan City). A few days later, Meng Haoran sailed eastward, and Li Bai personally sent him to the riverside. When bidding farewell, I wrote this song "Farewell to Meng Haoran at the Yellow Crane Tower in Guangling".
2. Appreciation of "Yellow Crane Tower Sends Meng Haoran to Guangling"
Li Bai is a poet who loves nature and likes to travel. He "loved traveling to famous mountains all his life" and his footprints were almost everywhere Throughout China, many works have been left that praise the beauty of nature and friendship. "Yellow Crane Tower Farewell to Meng Haoran at Guangling" is a famous poem that has always been praised. This poem was written by Li Bai during his grand tour to Shu. It describes the poet's infinite attachment when bidding farewell to his friends, and also writes about the magnificence and beauty of the mountains and rivers of his motherland.
In the rhyme of the poem, the poet also ingeniously chose three melodious rhymes of "lou", "zhou" and "liu", which left a lingering sound when reciting. This is very consistent with the scene of the lone sail sailing away and the river flowing into the sky, as well as the poet's longing and affectionate demeanor as he watched. Coupled with the clear and natural language and the powerful and broad artistic conception, this poem really makes people fall in love with it more and more and never get tired of reading it a hundred times. No wonder it has been praised throughout the ages.
In short, this is a very poetic farewell between two elegant and unrestrained poets. For Li Bai, it is also a farewell with a feeling of longing, which is used by the poet as a gorgeous spring in March. The scenery is expressed extremely vividly with the broad picture of the boat on the Yangtze River and the details of watching the distant shadow of the solitary sail.