View from the Huanglou on the bank of old Huanghe

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Leaving My Post at Xuzhou (No.1)

Leaving My Post at Xuzhou and Setting Out for the Southern Capital.  I Write Hurriedly on Horseback and Send to Ziyou (No.1) Su Shi 1036-1101 Don't let the people hold me back, Don't let singers and flutes play mournfully. My life is like a brief stay, Willl this be my only farewell? Departures occur everywhere; Grief comes from too much love. Besides, I am not a benevolent man-- For whom are these tears shed? All this commotion is childishness, The whip and stirrups being cut away. That pair of stone statues along the road, How many prefects have they watched depart? Were they sentient, they would start laughing, Clap their hands and snap their capstrings.

Bà Xúzhōu wǎng Nánjīng mǎ shàng zǒu bǐ jì Zǐyóu wǔshǒu(qí yī)

Sū Shì 1036-1101 Lì mín mò bǎn yuán, Gē guǎn mò qīyē. Wǔ shēng rú jì ěr, Níng dú wèi cǐ bié. Biélí suí chù yǒu, Bēi nǎo yuán ài jié. Ér wǒ běn wú ēn, Cí tì wèi shéi shè? Fēnfēn děng ér xì, Biān dèng zāo gē jié. Dào páng shuāng shí rén, Jǐ jiàn tàishǒu fā? Yǒu zhī dāng jiě xiào, Wǔ zhǎng guàn yīng jué.

Translator:

Ron Egan 艾朗諾

Notes: From Ron Egan's definitive book on Su Shi (Su Dongpo), Word Image and Deed In The Life Of Su Shi, Harvard University Press. Used with permission. Professor Egan teaches at the University of California, Santa Barbara, California.

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