Home › Poems › Farewell to Vice-Prefect Du on His Way to Shuzhou
Sòng Dù Shào Fǔ Zhī Rèn Shǔ ZhōuFarewell to Vice-Prefect Du on His Way to Shuzhou 送杜少府之任蜀州
Wang Bo: a friend who knows your heart is never far.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
城阙辅三秦
chéng què fǔ sān qín
风烟望五津
fēng yān wàng wǔ jīn
与君离别意
yǔ jūn lí bié yì
同是宦游人
tóng shì huàn yóu rén
海内存知己
hǎi nèi cún zhī jǐ
天涯若比邻
tiān yá ruò bǐ lín
无为在岐路
wú wéi zài qí lù
儿女共沾巾
ér nǚ gòng zhān jīn
Simplified characters; traditional title: 送杜少府之任蜀州.
English translation
The city walls and gates are guarded by the Three Qin;
through wind and mist I gaze toward the Five Fords.
The feeling of parting I share with you,
for we are both men who travel for office.
If you have a friend who knows your heart,
distance cannot keep you apart.
So let us not, at the fork in the road,
like children, wet our handkerchiefs with tears.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Most farewell poems are tearful; this one is deliberately bright. The opening places the two friends at the capital, looking toward distant Sichuan. The third couplet is the heart of the poem — "海内存知己，天涯若比邻" — still quoted today about long-distance friendship. The ending urges them both not to cry like children, turning parting into encouragement.
Background
Written by the young Wang Bo in Chang'an for a friend surnamed Du, who was leaving to take up a post in Shuzhou (Sichuan).
Key words
- 三秦 sān qín
- the Three Qin, the Chang'an region
- 五津 wǔ jīn
- the Five Fords of the Min River in Sichuan
- 知己 zhī jǐ
- a true friend
- 比邻 bǐ lín
- close neighbor
About the poet: Wang Bo
Wang Bo was a child prodigy and one of the "Four Paragons of the Early Tang." He drowned in his mid-twenties, shortly after writing his celebrated "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng."
Lifetime: c. 650–676. Other famous works: The Pavilion of Prince Teng (滕王阁诗); Farewell to Vice-Prefect Du on His Way to Shuzhou (送杜少府之任蜀州); Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng (滕王阁序).