[updated September 2022]
Send Off Yuwen
送 宇 文 太 守 赴 宣 城
寥 落 云 外 山
迢 遥 舟 中 赏。
铙 吹 发 西 江
秋 空 多 清 响。
地 迥 古 城 芜
月 明 寒 潮 广。
时 赛 敬 亭 神
复 解 罟 师 网。
何 处 寄 相 思？
南 风 吹 五 两。
Song Yu Wen Tai Shou Fu Xuan Cheng
Liao luo yun wai shan
Tiao yao zhou zhong shang
Nao chui fa xi jiang
Qiu kong duo qing xiang
Di jiong gu cheng wu
Yue ming han chao guang
Shi sai jing ting shen
Fu jie gu shi wang
He chu ji xiong si?
Nan feng chui wu liang.
Send Off Yuwen to His Government Post in Xuancheng
Clouds outside the mountains are few and far between
In the boat, we admire the distant landscape.
Banging cymbals from Xi Jiang
Echo and echo through the clear autumn air.
The land around the remote and ancient city wall overgrown with weeds
Brilliant moonlight on the cold damp expanse.
It is the season to compete for honor at the river divinity pavilion
Again it is time to release captured aquatic animals.
What are some things that can be done when one is missing home?
The southern wind blows, and we drink together a pot of wine.
Notes:
Xuancheng: A riverside town in Anhui Provence.
Release captured aquatic animals: An ancient tradition of compassion for the condemned. Perhaps kind of like the debt jubilees of other areas.
Commentary:
A poem that describes very well several things: traveling and sending off a good friend, the beauty of Nature, the ancient earth-based spiritual beliefs before the arrival of Laozi or Buddhism, and the heart ache of nostalgia.