At this lofty tower where the town ends, wilderness begins;
And our longing has as far to go as the ocean or the sky…
Hibiscus-flowers by the moat heave in a sudden wind,
And vines along the wall are whipped with slanting rain.
Nothing to see for three hundred miles but a blur of woods and mountain --
And the river's nine loops, twisting in our bowels…
This is where they have sent us, this land of tattooed people --
And not even letters, to keep us in touch with home.
Original Poem:
「登柳州城楼寄漳汀封连四州」
柳宗元
城上高楼接大荒， 海天愁思正茫茫。
惊风乱飐芙蓉水， 密雨斜侵薜荔墙。
岭树重遮千里目， 江流曲似九回肠。
共来百越文身地， 犹自音书滞一乡。
Interpretation:
This is a poem of nostalgia for friends who were relegated to Liuzhou after the poet was relegated to Liuzhou, written through what he saw and felt when he climbed the Liuzhou city tower.
First, I will write about what I saw and felt when I climbed the tower. As soon as the poet arrives at Liuzhou, he can’t wait to climb up the city tower to look at his friend from afar. The higher he stood, the farther he looked, which showed that he was thinking very hard. Because the five of them were persecuted, the fate of the related, sincere friendship, although the sky is different, but the feeling of longing can not be self-conscious. Liuzhou city is surrounded by desolate and remote places, writing out the hardship of their banishment. Looking to the extreme, the sea and the sky are connected, a vast expanse. On the one hand, it is written that the place where the four of them were relegated is near the sea, and on the other hand, it also implies that their own “sadness” is as boundless as “the sea and the sky”.
The wind is frightening and turbulent, and the rain is dense and obliquely invasive, so it is clear that the summer winds and rains in Liuzhou are severe. The water “Hibiscus” and “Ficus” on the wall in this stormy wind and rain, although they are battered, they still stand tall and fragrant. That is to say, they are in the persecution of the evil forces, but still show “out of the mud but not stained”, meet the evil wind and not die of strong will.
From near and far, looking at the distant friends in distress, looking up at the heavy mountains, dense forests, blocking the eyes of thousands of miles; looking down at the river twists and turns, like a nine-curve back to the intestines. These two lines write out the poet to the distant four friends look forward to each other, the pain of longing for each other.
Everyone together exiled to such a desolate place, already enough pain, even more difficult is even the sound of the book can only “lag a township”, can not communicate with each other greetings. The word “since” deepens the poet’s love for his friend, which is so painful to hear.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元), 773-819 A.D., a native of Yongji, Shanxi, was a progressive thinker, brilliant writer, and revolutionary statesman of the Tang Dynasty. Nineteen years before he was born, the An Shi Rebellion broke out, which dramatically changed the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline. The subsequent failure of the Yongzhen Reform was a historical tragedy that cut short Liu Zongyuan’s political future, but made him one of the leading thinkers and literary figures of the Tang Dynasty.
