We met last among flowers, among flowers we parted,
And here, a year later, there are flowers again;
But, with ways of the world too strange to foretell,
Spring only brings me grief and fatigue.
I am sick, and I think of my home in the country-
Ashamed to take pay while so many are idle.
...In my western tower, because of your promise,
I have watched the full moons come and go.
Original Poem:
「寄李儋元锡」
韦应物
去年花里逢君别， 今日花开又一年。
世事茫茫难自料， 春愁黯黯独成眠。
身多疾病思田里， 邑有流亡愧俸钱。
闻道欲来相问讯， 西楼望月几回圆。
Interpretation:
When the poet was an official in Chuzhou, he heard that his friend Li Dan wanted to come to meet him, so he wrote a poem to urge him to do so and sent it to him. The poem expresses the deep longing for his friend, and expresses his inner conflict and helplessness.
The first line of the narrative of goodbye. From last year’s red flowers when the poet and his friend met separately, to this year’s flowers have been blooming for a year. Separate only one year, so miss, see the depth of friendship between the two. The scene, recalling the past of meeting and parting in the flowers, is both gratifying and sad.
The third line of the poem is about the poet’s own troubles and bitterness of being ambitious but helpless. Things in the world are uncertain and unpredictable, and in the springtime the mood is bleak, leaning on the pillow can not sleep.
Neck line specifically write the poet’s inner conflict. They are sick and want to retreat to the field, but see the people poor fleeing, feel that they have not fulfilled their duties, in the country to the people are guilty ah! The poet has ambition, but can not change the overall situation; sick body and want to resign, but the duty is clear and can not bear to let the people poor and fleeing.
Finally, the poet writes that he is grateful for his friend Li Dan’s greetings and eagerly looks forward to his visit to console the poet’s inner conflict. Hearing that his friend was coming to visit, the poet stood at the Wind Watch Tower and looked at the moon, which had been full several times, when would his friend come, and when would the poet’s inner pain be relieved, writing all the bitterness of lovesickness.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Wei Yingwu (韦应物), circa 737 – 786, was a native of Chang’an, Beijing. His poems were collected in the Wei Suzhou Collection, which included poems concerned with the plight of the people, expressions of disobedience to the times and indignation against the world, and descriptions of idyllic landscapes, etc., of which the ones describing idyllic landscapes are the most famous, and have been sung by posterity in particular.
