[updated October 2022]
First Lunar Month, Seventh Day, At the Nan Yang’s Traveler’s Inn, Think of Many Han River Friends
人 日 登 南 阳 驿 门 怀 汉 川 诸 友
朝 来 登 雉 处
不 似 艳 阳 时。
异 乡 殊 风 物
稽 怀 多 所 思。
剪 花 惊 岁 早
看 柳 讶 春 迟。
未 有 南 飞 雁
裁 书 欲 寄 谁？
Ren Ri Deng Nan Yang Yi Men Huai Han Chuan Zhu You
Zhao lai deng chu
Bu si yan yang shi.
Yi xiang shu feng wu
Ji huai duo suo si.
Jian hua jing sui zao
Kan liu ya chun chi.
Wei you nan fei yan
Cai shu you ji shei ?
First Lunar Month, Seventh Day, At the Nan Yang’s Traveler’s Inn, Think of Many Han River Friends
Dawn arrives as I climb to the heights
This sunny season not like the last time I was here.
A different Xian City, not the usual scenery
Restrained yearning for these many places.
Cut flowers have begun their spring blossoms
Surprised, the willow trees say instead it is late spring.
Wild geese have not yet flown south
Who can I send my writings to ?
Notes:
Han River: Largest tributary to the Changjiang (Yangzi River). It joins that river in Hubei Province at the city of Wuhan.
Xian City: There is a city by this name at the base of the Yellow Mountains in Anhui Province.