Poetic China: Parting in Baling County by Li Bai

Parting in Baling County

Li Bai (701—762)

As I see you off at a pavilion in Baling,

The Ba River runs as fast as harts.

Above me are old trees with no blossoms;

Beneath me are spring grasses with broken hearts.

I ask a pedestrian from Qin about a side path.

He says it once took Wang Tsan south.

The ancient path winds and extends west to the capital.

At sunset, clouds gather around a purple watchtower.

Tonight I’m broken into pieces,

Too sad to listen to songs of farewell hour after hour.

This is a poem about farewell written by “poetry god”, Li Bai. Li had an amazing ability to compose a poem within a few minutes, as well as the ethereal charms of his poems. He was a free spirit, once a federal government official who often ignored petty codes of conduct but was always granted pardon by Tang Dynasty emperor Xuan Zong for his exceptional talent. Although Li was the emperor’s favorite poet, some officials jealous of him frequently badmouthed him in front of the emperor. They irritated him too much that he eventually resigned and traveled all over China. In his early 60s, he allegedly died of trying to capture the moon’s reflection on the water from the boat where he had been drunk.

Copyright: A POETIC PORTAL TO CHINESE CULTURE, China Pictorial Press

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