On the Stork Tower 登鹳雀楼

Dēng Guàn Què Lóu
登 鹳 雀 楼

Wáng Zhīhuàn (Táng )
王之涣(唐)

Bái rì yī shān jìn, huáng hé rù hǎi liú.
白 日 依 山 尽 ， 黄 河 入 海 流。

Yù qióng qiān lǐ mù, gèng shàng yì céng lóu.
欲 穷 千 里 目， 更 上 一 层 楼。

On the Stork Tower

Wang Zhihuan(Tang)

Along the mountains sink the last rays of sun,

Towards the sea the Yellow River does forward go.

If you would fain command a thousand miles in view,

To a higher storey you are expected to go.

Comment:

This poem shows what the poet sees and feels about as he ascends the high Tower. In the first two lines, he turns his eyes from the setting sun beyond the high mountains in the distance to the Yellow River at his feet, which flows out of sight eastward into the sea. What a sublime, anoramic picture of the vast land! Then he comes up with the masterful line "If you would fain command a thousand miles in view, to a higher storey you are expected to go" and its allegorical meaning by blending landscape, emotion and philosophical thinking in the short verse.