Bai Juyi: Reply to a Friend Who Has Anchored at the Xiling Post Station and Ferry Crossing

Reply to a Friend Who Has Anchored at the Xiling Post Station and Ferry Crossing

答 微 之 泊 西 陵 驿 见 寄

烟 波 尽 处 一 点 白
应 是 西 陵 古 驿 台。

知 在 台 边 望 不 见
暮 湖 空 送 渡 船 回。

Da Wei Zhi Bo Xi Ling Yi Jian Ji

Yan bo jin chu yi dian bai
Ying shi xi ling gu yi tai.                                                                                                          Zhi zai tai bian wang bu jian
Mu hu kong song du chuan hui.

Reply to a Friend Who Has Anchored at the Xiling Post Station and Ferry Crossing

Through mists and waves, your sail like one white drop
You could be at the ancient ferry landing tower.

Gaze into the distance, I know you are there, but cannot see you at the tower
Your ferry boat comes back empty with the sunset tides.

Notes:

White drop: The Chinese character for “drop” is dian, which is not a perfectly formed circle, but rather creates a picture in the readers mind the basic brush stroke when an artist is painting shufa (Chinese calligraphy).