Seeing Someone Off East
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
浩然离故关。
高风汉阳渡，
初日郢门山。
江上几人在，
天涯孤棹还。
何当重相见，
樽酒慰离颜。
English translation
At the ruined garrison the yellow leaves fall, bravely you leave the old frontier pass.
High winds at the Hanyang crossing, the morning sun on the hills of Yingmen.
On the river, how many friends remain? From the world's end a lonely oar returns.
When shall we meet again, and with a cup of wine comfort the face of parting?
Meaning
Yellow leaves fall thick over the abandoned camp, and with a grand spirit and far ambitions you take leave of the old pass and its strongholds.
The current is swift and the wind high at Hanyang ferry, and under the morning sun the hills at Yingmen present a thousand aspects.
How many friends in the east of the river strain their eyes, waiting for your lone boat to come back from the world's end.
When shall we meet again and drink deep together, to soothe the sorrow on the face of a parting friend?
Background
Read the background
This is a poem of farewell; for whom it was written is unclear (some say it was Yu Xuanji, who has a matching poem "A Farewell"). Since the place names in the poem all lie in present-day Hubei, it can be known that this is a work written after Wen Tingyun was demoted in the thirteenth year of the Dazhong era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (Li Chen) (859) to be the district defender of Sui county, and before he left Jiangling and went east in the third year of the Xiantong era of Emperor Yizong (862) — it should be the autumn of the second year of Xiantong — most likely at Jiangling, when the poet was about fifty.