The River Xiang unruffled in autumn looks wide;
The wayfarer at moonset leaves the riverside.
We see wayfarers come, we see wayfarers go.
Over white duckweed partridges fly to and fro.
Original Poem:
「湘江曲」
张籍
湘水无潮秋水阔，湘中月落行人发。
送人发，送人归，白蘋茫茫鹧鸪飞。
Interpretation:
This poem describes the scene of sending off on the bank of Xiangjiang River and expresses the poet's despondent feelings at the time of parting.
The first two lines: the Xiangjiang River in autumn is calm and wide, and the people who go out on the river go away by boat when the moon sets.
The first line of the poem begins with the scenery of the Xiangjiang River in autumn. The Xiangjiang River in autumn has no wind and no waves, and when you look at it, it looks even more open, which is exactly the kind of autumn that makes people feel good about being away from home. No tide of the river is reflecting the poet's mind; the openness of the river is reflecting the poet's mood of sadness and depression. Then said the time to send off is the dawn of the morning light.
The last two lines: send someone out, I still have to go back, facing the vast white apple and flying partridge, I am melancholy.
“Sending people out, I still have to go back,” strengthens the melody of the poem's traveling clouds and flowing water, and the addition of the gradual progression of the description, the sentimental mood of the full rendering of the loop back and forth. Finally, there is the scene of the departed. The poet stands by the river and looks at the sail's sadness, and the partridge's cries seem to convey the poet's inner sadness and disappointment in a deeper and more subtle way.
The whole poem is shallow and deep, blending twists and turns in the plainness, sending taste in the light, seemingly ordinary but strange, in the rendering of local colors to express the poet's feelings of farewell to friends, revealing infinite feelings of despondency.
Poem translator:
Xu Yuan-chong (许渊冲)
About the poet:
Zhang Ji (张籍), c. 768 - c. 830 AD, was a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. He entered the academy in 798 AD. His poetry is best characterized by its condensed yet simple and natural language.
