Translation
Lu Lun (739-799) | 盧綸 |
Seeing Off Li Duan | 送李端 |
Ancient pass, withered grass throughout; | 故關 衰草遍 |
Leaving, parting, we are full of grief. | 離別 自堪悲 |
Your road leads beyond the cold and clouds | 路出 寒雲外 |
And I will return in time for the twilight snow. | 人歸 暮雪時 |
As a little orphan I became an early wanderer | 少孤 為客早 |
And after many hardships I met you late. | 多難 識君遲 |
Suppressing our tears we face each other in vain; | 掩泣 空相向 |
For among the wind and dust, when shall we meet again? | 風塵 何所期 |
Commentary
Both Lu Lun and Li Duan were Mid-Tang poets and close friends. When Lu wrote this poem, the government had suppressed the disastrous An Lushan Rebellion, but the Tang Dynasty remained unstable ever since.
The imagery evokes the mood of the poem, with “withered grass” giving a feeling of decay and “twilight snow” representing darkness, coldness, and the end of day. He refers to being orphaned as a child and having to leave his family’s home at an early age and only meeting his friend late in life. There is an implicit comparison of his leaving home as an orphaned child and his friend leaving the area. Millions of people died during the An Lushan Rebellion and the two main capitals of the empire were sacked repeatedly; his experience as an orphan personalizes the events. In the last verse, “wind and dust” refers to the vissitudes of the times.
Original Chinese
Traditional | Simplified | Pronunciation |
盧綸 | 卢纶 | Lú Lún |
送李端 | 送李端 | Sòng Lǐ Duān |
故關衰草遍， | 故关衰草遍， | Gù guān shuāi cǎo biàn， |
離別自堪悲。 | 离别自堪悲。 | Lí bié zì kān bēi。 |
路出寒雲外， | 路出寒云外， | Lù chū hán yún wài， |
人歸暮雪時。 | 人归暮雪时。 | Rén guī mù xuě shí。 |
少孤為客早， | 少孤为客早， | Shǎo gū wéi kè zǎo， |
多難識君遲。 | 多难识君迟。 | Duō nán shí jūn chí。 |
掩淚空相向， | 掩泪空相向， | Yǎn lèi kōng xiāng xiàng， |
風塵何處期。 | 风尘何处期。 | Fēng chén hé chǔ qī。 |
Literal Notes
盧綸 | Cottage Green-Thread [=Lu Lun (739-799)] |
送李端 | Seeing-off Plum End [Plum End = Li Duan, Lu Lun’s friend. He is also a poet in Tang Dynasty.] |
故關衰草遍， | Ancient/old frontier-pass/relation decline/weaken/mourning-garments grass everywhere/throughout/all-over [Decline grass = withered grass] |
離別自堪悲。 | Leave/depart separate self adequately-capable-of/worthy-of sorrow/grief |
路出寒雲外， | Road/path goes-out cold/wintry clouds outside [Note: this line means the road goes beyond the cold clouds.] |
人歸暮雪時。 | Man return evening snow time/season/period |
少孤為客早， | Small orphan is traveler early [Small orphan = Lu Lun’s father died when Lu Lun was still a child], [traveler = lead a drifting life] |
多難識君遲。 | Many/much difficult/arduous recognize/understand/know gentleman late/slow/delay [Many difficult = troublesome. Lu Lun was only a child when the An-Shi rebellion broke out. He fled for refuge to Jiangxi and led a turbulent life], [“gentleman” refers to his friend, Li Duan] |
掩淚空相向， | Cover-up/conceal tears in-vain each-other/mutual direction [each-other direction = face-to-face, facing one another] |
風塵何處期。 | Wind dust what place period-of-time/hope [wind dust = the turbulent time they lived in, vissitudes of life, hardships of travel], [what place = where], [period-of-time = reunite] |
Year:
2012
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