Seeing Off Vice Governor Li to Xiangzhou
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
曾驱十万师。
罢归无旧业，
老去恋明时。
独立三边静，
轻生一剑知。
茫茫江汉上，
日暮欲何之。
English translation
A general of the southern campaigns, now cast adrift, who once led a hundred thousand men.
Dismissed, he returns to no estate, growing old, still clinging to the enlightened reign.
He stood alone, and the three frontiers were still, he made light of his life, as his sword alone knows.
Out on the vast Yangtze and Han, at sunset, where will you go?
Meaning
This old general of the southern campaign, long adrift and wandering, once commanded a hundred thousand mighty troops.
Afterwards he was dismissed and went home with no property, and in old age he still looks back fondly on the days of worthy rule.
In his youth he won merit on his own and the three frontiers were at peace, and only the sword he carried knew how lightly he held his life for his country.
Drifting to and fro on the vast Han River, with the day declining — where is it you would go?
Background
Read the background
"Seeing Off Vice Minister Li to Xiangzhou" — also known as "Seeing Off Vice Minister Li as He Returns to His Estate at Hanyang" — was written not long after the An Lushan Rebellion had been quelled, when Liu Zhangqing was moved by the misfortune of Vice Minister Li, who had been dismissed and sent home.