[updated September 2022]
Send Off Bo Gu to Wuzhong: (Green Jade Table)
送 伯 固 归 吴 中: 青玉案
三 年 枕 上 吴 中 路
遣 黄 犬 随 君 去。
若 到 松 江 呼 小 渡
莫 惊 鸳 鹭。
四 桥 尽 是 老 子 经 行 处。
“辋 川 图” 上 看 春 暮
常 记 高 人 右 丞 句。
作 个 归 期 天 已 许。
春 衫 犹 是 小 蛮 针 线
曾 湿 西 湖 雨。
Song Bo Gu Gui Wu Zhong: (Qing Yu An)
San nian zhen shang wu zhong lu
Qian huang quan sui jun qu.
Ruo dao song jiang hu xiao du
Mo jing yuan lu.
Si qiao jin shi, lao zi jing xing chu.
“Wang Chuan Tu” shang kan chun mu
Chang ji gao ren you cheng ju.
Zuo ge gui qi tian yi xu.
Chun shan you shi xiao man zhen xian
Ceng shi xi hu yu.
Send Off Bo Gu to Wuzhong: (Green Jade Table)
The past three years like a dream, from me to you, along the roads to Wuzhong
I wish I had a messenger dog to carry our letters back and forth.
When you arrive at the Song River
Do not shout or yell, you may startle the egrets and mandarin ducks.
At one of the Suzhou bridges is one of my favorite spots.
When I miss you, I can only enjoy the spring sunset
Like the people inside Wang Wei’s picture “Wang River”.
Often remember the lines written by the great recluse and scholar You Cheng
I cannot wait until I too have an opportunity to retire
My spring shirt sewn by my backdoor lady, just like Bai Juyi
Once moist in the West Lake rain.
Notes:
Su and his friend Bo Gu worked together in Hangzhou ca. 1090.
Wuzhong: Central Zhejiang Province.
Wang Wei’s “Wang River”: Famous scroll of landscape painting and twenty poems. The original no longer exists, but several copies do. Wang was a pioneer in the use of ink washes and brushstrokes to give the illusion of depth in his paintings. For more information, this website has a biography of him and many of his poems.
Backdoor lady: A woman with Su Dongpo and his first wife, adopted by both of them as a “sister” and soul mate.
Bai Juyi: (772-846) Famous Tang Dynasty poet and statesman. See this website for biographical information and poems.