From the walls of Baidi high in the coloured dawn
To Jiangling by night-fall is three hundred miles,
Yet monkeys are still calling on both banks behind me
To my boat these ten thousand mountains away.
Original Poem:
「早发白帝城」
李白
朝辞白帝彩云间， 千里江陵一日还。
两岸猿声啼不住， 轻舟已过万重山。
Interpretation:
Written on Li Bai's return journey after his amnesty, this poem describes the boat trip down to Jiangling, expressing a pleasant mood in a relaxed tone.
The first two lines: Early in the morning, I bid farewell to Baidi City, which is high in the clouds; Jiangling is thousands of miles away, and the boat trip will take only one day to return.
The poet looks back at the Baidi City above the clouds, and the past is like a lifetime ago. The morning shows a good weather from the darkness to the light, and the poet will be in the dawn of the first bright moment, with the excitement to bid farewell to the city of the White Emperor in a hurry.
The last two lines: the sound of apes on both sides of the river is still reverberating in the ears, and the light boat has already sailed over ten thousand green mountains.
He traveled on the Yangtze River in a fast boat, listening to the cries of the apes on both sides of the river, and saw the shadow of the mountains on both sides, the cries of the apes in more than one place, the shadow of the mountains in more than one place, due to the boatmen's speed, so that the cries and the mountain shadow in the ears and eyes between the “all in one piece”, which is Li Bai in the out of the gorges for the apes and the mountain shadow of the scene felt. Light boat into the straight road, the poet through the hardships and dangers, the pleasure of entering the journey, but also naturally expressed. These last two lines are both scene writing and simile, which are both the expression of personal mood and the summary of life experience.
The poem shows the swiftness of the boat, bringing out the scenery on both sides of the river, so that people can hear as if they were seeing. The boat sails in the river as if flying, and in the constant sound of apes on the hills along the shore, the light boat has sped past ten thousand mountains. Despite the bitter cries of the apes and monkeys on both sides of the river, I, like an arrow in a light boat, have crossed all the difficulties and obstacles, the future is wide open, and the mood is unbelievably relaxed. The poem is also like a river running, extremely romantic.
Poem translator:
About the poet:
Li Bai (李白), 701 ~ 762 A.D., whose ancestral home was in Gansu, was preceded by Li Guang, a general of the Han Dynasty. Tang poetry is one of the brightest constellations in the history of Chinese literature, and one of the brightest stars is Li Bai.
