The poem "An old friend bids farewell to the Yellow Crane Tower in the West" comes from "Yellow Crane Tower Farewell to Meng Haoran in Guangling" written by Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty. The full poem:
An old friend bids farewell to the West. Yellow Crane Tower, fireworks in 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.
Translation of the whole poem:
My old friend waved goodbye to the Yellow Crane Tower frequently, and went on a long trip to Yangzhou in March when catkins were like smoke and flowers were blooming. The shadow of the friend's lone boat gradually moved away and disappeared at the end of the blue sky. Only a line of the Yangtze River was seen, rushing towards the distant sky.
The creative background of this poem:
In the fifteenth year of Kaiyuan (727) of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai returned from his eastward journey and arrived in Anlu, Hubei Province. He was twenty-seven years old. He lived in Anlu for ten years, but most of the time he met friends with poetry and wine, and traveled abroad. In his own words, he "lost himself in Anlu for ten years." It was while living in Anlu that Li Bai met Meng Haoran, who was twelve years older than him.
Meng Haoran admired Li Bai very much, and the two soon became close friends. In March of the eighteenth year of Kaiyuan (730), Li Bai learned that Meng Haoran was going to Guangling (now Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province), so he asked someone to bring the letter and asked to meet Meng Haoran 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".
Appreciation of the whole poem:
The first line in the poem "The old friend bids farewell to the Yellow Crane Tower in the west" means that the old friend is bidding farewell to the Yellow Crane Tower and journeys eastward. Because the Yellow Crane Tower is to the west of Guangling, so the place where Xici goes must be in the east. Then the second sentence "Fireworks descend in Yangzhou in March" Yangzhou is located in Guangling. Taking a boat from Wuhan to Yangzhou is by the Yangtze River. To go down, we say "going down to Yangzhou". This sentence says that Meng Haoran went to Yangzhou in March, a scene like fireworks. Yangzhou is known for its beautiful scenery, especially in spring when flowers and trees are flourishing and the scenery is gorgeous, so Li Bai used fireworks to describe the place Meng Haoran was about to go, which somewhat revealed Meng Haoran's envy of this trip. The above two sentences describe the farewell situation, but not the feelings of farewell.
In the third and fourth sentences, "The shadow of the solitary sail is gone in the blue sky, and only the Yangtze River remains in the sky." The writer sent his friend away and watched the sailing sail alone in the Yellow Crane Tower. The boat heading east gradually went further and further away, and finally disappeared in the blue sky where the water and the sky met. All that could be seen was the endless flow of the Yangtze River. The author's feelings went away with his sight, until he saw the boat. All have disappeared in the blue sky. He still stood and stared at the flowing water of the Yangtze River in the horizon, which showed his feelings of farewell to his friend.
This feeling of parting would not be so profound if it were not between close friends through writing. And the way to write about the feelings of parting is to only use the scenery in front of you in the place of parting. Hiding feelings in the scenery; not directly expressing feelings, but making people feel the true feelings more and more.
Personal feelings:
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. The poet used the gorgeous scenery of March in spring, the broad picture of the boat on the Yangtze River, and the details of watching the distant shadow of the solitary sail to express it very vividly.