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Sòng Shěn Zi Fú Zhī Jiāng DōngSeeing Off Shen Zifu 送沈子福之江东

Wang Wei (王维, also known as Wang Mojie)｜High Tang｜seven-character quatrain

Wang Wei sees a friend off east; longing follows him like spring.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

杨柳渡头行客稀
yáng liǔ dù tóu xíng kè xī

罟师荡桨向临圻
gǔ shī dàng jiǎng xiàng lín qí

唯有相思似春色
wéi yǒu xiāng sī shì chūn sè

江南江北送君归
jiāng nán jiāng běi sòng jūn guī

Simplified characters; traditional title: 送沈子福之江東.

English translation

At the willow ferry the travellers are few;

the fisherman rows his oars toward Linqi.

Only my longing, like the colour of spring,

will follow you home, north and south of the river.

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

Line by line

杨柳渡头行客稀 · yáng liǔ dù tóu xíng kè xī — At the willow ferry the travellers are few;

罟师荡桨向临圻 · gǔ shī dàng jiǎng xiàng lín qí — the fisherman rows his oars toward Linqi.

唯有相思似春色 · wéi yǒu xiāng sī shì chūn sè — Only my longing, like the colour of spring,

江南江北送君归 · jiāng nán jiāng běi sòng jūn guī — will follow you home, north and south of the river.

Meaning and imagery

Wang Wei sees a friend off east; longing follows him like spring. The scene stays with you.

Background

Wang Wei sees a friend off east; longing follows him like spring.

Key words

罟师 gǔ shī: a fisherman with nets
临圻 lín qí: approaching the riverbank or frontier

About the poet: Wang Wei

Wang Wei was a poet, painter, musician and court official. A devout Buddhist, he wrote spare, luminous landscape verse; later critics said there is "a painting in his poems and a poem in his paintings." He is sometimes called the "Buddha of Poetry."

Lifetime: c. 699–761. Other famous works: Miscellaneous Poem (You Have Come from Home) (杂诗); Farewell (Dismounting to Drink) (送别); Autumn Evening in the Mountains (山居秋暝); Longing (相思); Deer Park (鹿柴); Bamboo Grove Retreat (竹里馆); Farewell to Yuan the Second on His Mission to Anxi (送元二使安西); Thinking of My Brothers on the Double Ninth (九月九日忆山东兄弟); Birdsong in the Ravine (鸟鸣涧); Joys of the Countryside (田园乐); Floating on the Han River (汉江临泛); In the Mountains (山中); Farewell in the Mountains (山中送别); Long Rain at Wangchuan (积雨辋川庄作); Magnolia Bank (辛夷坞); Seeing Off Shen Zifu (送沈子福之江东); Reply to Vice-Prefect Zhang (酬张少府); A Quiet Matter (书事); Song of Youth (少年行); My Retreat at Zhongnan (终南别业); Seeing Off Prefect Li of Zizhou (送梓州李使君).

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日本語版（書き下し文・現代語訳） · 繁體中文版