Li Bai is widely recognized as one of the greatest poets in Chinese history.

 

宣州[1]谢朓楼饯别[2]校书叔云[3]

弃我去者,

昨日之日不可留;

乱我心者,

今日之日多烦忧。

长风[4]万里送秋雁,

对此可以酣高楼。

蓬莱文章建安骨,

中间小谢又清发。

俱怀逸兴壮思飞,

欲上青天揽明月。

抽刀断水水更流,

举杯消愁愁更愁。

人生在世不称意,

明朝散发[5]弄扁舟[6]。

公元753年,李白和路过宣城的叔父李云在南齐太守谢脁修建的高楼上饮酒,写下了这首饯别诗。第一句的“昨日”,可能指唐玄宗“开元盛世”;第二句的“烦忧”,可能暗示杨国忠和安禄山等当权,使诗人报国无门,只能登楼饮酒。叔侄二人目送长风万里,秋雁南飞,诗人却不能乘风破浪,为国出力,不禁感慨系之,于是二人谈起蓬莱文章和建安风骨来。蓬莱指秘书省,而李云是秘书省校书,他的文章有《吊古战场文》;建安风骨则指曹植等的文风;小谢就是谢脁,其诗文清新秀发,李白非常欣赏。诗人虽然心怀豪情壮志,梦想飞天揽月,但是抽刀不能断水,只得借酒浇愁,不料却又愁上加愁了。人生在世,不如意的事太多,只好学孔子“道不行,乘桴浮于海”。

注释:

[1]宣州:今安徽省宣城市一带。

[2]饯别:以酒食送行。

[3]叔云:李白的叔叔李云。

[4]长风:远风,大风。

[5]散发(fà):去冠披发,指隐居不仕。古人习惯束发,而散发表示闲适自在。

[6]弄扁(piān)舟:乘小舟归隐江湖。

Farewell to Uncle Yun,the Imperial Librarian,at Xie Tiao’s Pavilion in Xuanzhou[1]

What left me yesterday

Can be retained no more;

What troubles me today

Are the times for which I feel sore.

In autumn wind for miles and miles the wild geese fly.

Let’s drink,in face of this,in the pavilion high.

Your writing’s forcible like ancient poets while

Mine is in Junior Xie’s clear and spirited style.

Both of us have an ideal high:

We would reach the moon in the sky.

Cut running water with a sword,’twill faster flow;

Drink wine to drown your sorrow,it will heavier grow.

If we despair of all human affairs,

Let us roam in a boat with loosened hairs!

注释:

[1]Xie Tiao or Junior Xie(464–499)was a poet of the Jin Dynasty,who built a pavilion or the North Tower in Xuanzhou(present-day Xuancheng in Anhui Province).