Farewell at Xie Tiao's Tower in Xuanzhou, to Uncle Yun
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
昨日之日不可留；
乱我心者，
今日之日多烦忧。
长风万里送秋雁，
对此可以酣高楼。
蓬莱文章建安骨，
中间小谢又清发。
俱怀逸兴壮思飞，
欲上青天揽明月。
抽刀断水水更流，
举杯消愁愁更愁。
人生在世不称意，
明朝散发弄扁舟。
English translation
What has left me, yesterday's day, cannot be kept;
what troubles my heart, today's day, is full of vexation.
A long wind over ten thousand li escorts the autumn geese, facing this we may drink our fill in the high tower.
Your writing has the grandeur of Penglai, the bone of Jian'an, and between them the fresh bright note of the younger Xie.
Both of us bear a soaring spirit, bold thoughts take flight, we would mount the blue sky and seize the bright moon.
Draw the sword to cut the water, the water only flows the more; raise the cup to end the grief, the grief only deepens.
Since life in this world will not go as one would wish, tomorrow I'll loosen my hair and take to a little boat.
Meaning
Yesterday that abandoned me cannot be stayed.
Today that troubles my heart brings endless vexation.
A wind of ten thousand li sends the wild geese homeward south; facing such a scene, it is the very hour to mount the high tower and drink our fill.
Your writings have the true spirit of the Jian'an age, and my own verse is fresh and lovely, like that of Xie Tiao.
We are both filled with lofty and untrammelled spirits; our thoughts take wing and seem to mount the azure heavens to pluck the bright moon.
Cut the water with a blade and it only flows the faster; raise the cup to drown sorrow and sorrow only deepens.
Life in this world will not answer to one's desires; better to go with loosened hair and set a little boat upon the Yangtze.
Background
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This poem was written in about 753 (the twelfth year of the Tianbao era). That autumn Li Bai came to Xuanzhou, and soon after he settled there his kinsman-uncle Li Yun arrived on his travels and was to leave again before long; Li Bai accompanied him up Xie Tiao's Tower and gave a farewell banquet in his honor. The Xie Tiao Tower at Xuanzhou was built by Xie Tiao, the poet of the Southern Qi dynasty, when he served as governor of Xuancheng. Li Bai had climbed it many times and had once written "Ascending the North Tower of Xie Tiao at Xuancheng in Autumn."