Meng Haoran: Overnight on the Yongjia River, Send to Cui, Son of a Government Official Living Near the Yin Mountains

 

[updated October 2022]

 

Overnight On the Yongjia River, Send to Cui, Son of a Government Official Living Near the Yin Mountains

 

宿 永 嘉 江 寄 山 阴 崔 少 府 国 府
我 行 穷 水 国
君 使 入 京 華。
相 去 日 千 里
孤 帆 天 一 涯。
卧 闻 海 潮 至
起 视 江 月 斜。
借 问 同 舟 客
何 时 到 永 嘉?
Su Yong Jia Jiang Ji Shan Yin Cui Shao Fu Guo Fu

Wo xing qiong shui guo
Jun shi ru jing hua.
Xiang qu ri qian li
Gu fan tian yi ya.

Wo wen hai chao zhi
Qi shi jiang yue xie.
Jie wen tong zhou ke
He shi dao yong jia?

 

Overnight On the Yongjia River, Send to Cui, Son of a Government Official Living Near the Yin Mountains

As I travel to this arid region
You have entered into the elite capital circles.
Departed from each other, day by day until hundreds of miles apart
Sailboat, sky and I alone, with only one riverbank seen.

Resting here, waiting to hear the rising high tide
Arise to view slanting moonlight upon the river.
I ask a fellow passenger on our boat
When will we arrive in Yongjia?

 

Notes:

Yongjia River: Major tributary to the Ou River in the southeast of Zhejiang Province.

Yin mountains:  Mountain range that forms the southern border of the Gobi Desert, and lies within the provinces of Hebei and Inner Mongolia.