Mooring at Guazhou
Introducion:
Opening with the description of a vast distance over waters and hills away from home, the poem discloses the writer's homesickness on a moonlit night.
Text:
Bó Chuán Guā Zhōu
泊 船 瓜 洲
王维(宋)
Jīng kǒu guā zhōu yì shuǐ jiān, zhōng shān zhǐ gé shù chóng shān。
京 口 瓜 洲 一 水 间 , 钟 山 只 隔 数 重 山。
Chūn fēng yòu lǜ jiāng nán àn,míng yuè hé shí zhào wǒ huán?
春 风 又 绿 江 南 岸, 明 月 何 时 照 我 还?
Mooring at Guazhou
Wang Anshi (Song)
Between Guazhou and Jingkou does a river flow,
And away from a few hills lies the Zhongshan Mountain.
Now the vernal breeze makes green the southern shore again,
But when will the silver moon with me homeward go?
Comment:
Opening with the description of a vast distance over waters and hills away from home, the poem discloses the writer's homesickness on a moonlit night. He anchors his boat at Guazhou but his home is at Zhongshan, between which stand a few mountains. However, if he resolves to return home, what of it, the few mountains? Then, he shifts from space to time: spring has arrived, greening the trees, grasses and crops along the banks, but when can I go home? By asking the moon the sad question, he expresses his nostalgia and the depths of despair at failure to return home and join his family.