After these ten torn wearisome years
We have met again. We were both so changed
That hearing first your surname, I thought you a stranger -
Then hearing your given name, I remembered your young face...
All that has happened with the tides
We have told and told till the evening bell.
Tomorrow you journey to Yo-chou,
Leaving autumn between us, peak after peak.
Original Poem:
「喜见外弟又言别」
李益
十年离乱后，长大一相逢。
问姓惊初见，称名忆旧容。
别来沧海事，语罢暮天钟。
明日巴陵道，秋山又几重？
Interpretation:
This poem describes the author and his cousin in the chaos of the unexpected encounter and hastily say goodbye to the sad scene, expresses the sincere love of the most intimate friendship and the life of the gathering and separation of the undefined feelings, but also reflects the turmoil to the people's pain.
The first line: after nearly ten years of war and displacement, unexpectedly met after growing up.
It reveals that the war and turmoil have been going on, and the separation is ten years. It has been ten years since the parting, and at the same time, it shows that this is a parting in the midst of social turmoil.
The second couplet: they are still surprised to ask for their names when they first meet each other, and they remember their old faces only after they tell their names.
Describing their reunion, Li Yi and his cousin, however, have been unable to recognize each other across the street. It seems that they met each other in an encounter.
The third couplet: the world has changed tremendously after the parting; it was dusk when the conversation stopped, and the sound of the ringing bells of the temple was heard in the distance.
The two of them talked passionately, from daytime to sunset before they stopped talking. The conversation was so long and the two of them were so absorbed in it that they could not look at the changes in the sky or feel the passage of time, and it was only the sound of the temple bells in the distance that made them realize that it was already dusk.
The last couplet: tomorrow you have to ascend the ancient Baling Road again, and I wonder how many weights of autumn mountains will be ahead of me?
The country is in turmoil, the poet and his cousin are on different sides of the world, reunited after ten years, after a long time, the two seem to have been unknown to each other, and only after exchanging names can they remember their previous appearance. Each of them talked about the circumstances of their farewell until late at night. The next day, the two are to part again, and with the heavy fall mountains, they do not know when they will be able to get together.
The poem is written in simple language to express the feelings of sadness and joy, with a far-reaching mood, and it graphically depicts the living condition of the displaced people in the turbulent years.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Li Yi (李益), 748-829 AD, a native of Wuwei in Gansu Province, was one of the “Ten Scholarly Men of the Dali Dynasty”, and is best known for his works on the border and the Plateau, especially for his seven-character stanzas. His poems had a harmonious rhythm and were sung by musicians at that time.
