天门中断楚江开
Tianmen splits apart as the great river opens through;
碧水东流至此回
Green water flowing east turns back here.
两岸青山相对出
Green mountains on both banks rise facing each other;
孤帆一片日边来
One lonely sail comes from the sunlit distance.
What the poem means
The Yangtze flows between the mountains of Tianmen, with green water turning through them. A distant sail seems to arrive from the sun's direction. The scene changes with the moving viewpoint.
Meet the poet
Li Bai was a Tang poet known for vivid imagination and poems about nature, friendship and longing.
Li Bai · More poems →