History & Politics
Taking Leave of Friends on My Way to Hua-chou
Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu (1929) · From The Jade Mountain (1929)
This is the road by which I fled,
When the rebels had reached the west end of the city;
And terror, ever since, has clutched at my vitals
Lest some of my soul should never return.
. . . The court has come back now, filling the capital;
But the Emperor sends me away again.
Useless and old, I rein in my horse
For one last look at the thousand gates.
Codex Note
(In the second year of Chih-te, I escaped from the capital through the Gate of Golden Light and went to Feng-hsiang. In the first year of Ch'ien-yuan, I was appointed as official to Hua-chou from my former post of Censor. Friends and relatives gathered and saw me leave by the same gate. And I wrote this poem.)
Cite this poem
MLA
Fu, Tu. “Taking Leave of Friends on My Way to Hua-chou.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/tu-fu/42/.
Chicago
Fu, Tu. “Taking Leave of Friends on My Way to Hua-chou.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/tu-fu/42/.
Read this poem with the Codex →