Gazing into the Wilderness
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
南浦清江万里桥。
海内风尘诸弟隔，
天涯涕泪一身遥。
惟将迟暮供多病，
未有涓埃答圣朝。
跨马出郊时极目，
不堪人事日萧条。
English translation
White snow on the western hills, three garrisons kept, at the southern shore, the clear river and the Bridge of Ten Thousand Li.
Within the seas, wind and dust; my brothers all parted, at the world's end, tears, one body far away.
I can but offer my late years to much illness, not a single drop have I returned to the sage reign.
I ride out to the suburbs and gaze to the horizon, unbearable, how the world's affairs grow daily more bleak.
Meaning
White snow upon the western hills, where garrisons hold the three cities; south of the suburbs the Ten-Thousand-Li Bridge spans the broad Brocade River.
Because war within the four seas will not cease, word from my brothers is cut off; alone at the world's end, I cannot hold back my tears.
I can only give the little that remains of my declining years to this ailing body; as yet I have done nothing to repay the sage sovereign.
I ride out beyond the suburbs and gaze into the distance; I cannot bear to see the affairs of this world grow daily more desolate.
Background
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This poem was written in 761, the second year of the Shangyuan era of Emperor Suzong, while Du Fu was living in exile at Chengdu. The poet was already fifty, alone and adrift at the far corners of the world, unable to exchange word with his family, while the wars in the Central Plains had not yet ceased and the Tubo were harrying the frontier. Thus, wandering in the open country and overwhelmed by a tumult of feeling, he composed this poem.