A Farewell Song
No dust is raised on the road wet with morning rain;
I invite you to drink a cup of wine again;
West of the sunny pass no more friends will be seen. (Translated by Xu Yuanchong)
Time flies and you will soon be finished with junior high school. This feeling was shared more than 1,000 years ago, when the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei (701-761) had to say goodbye to his friend.
After the rain, the road is clean and free of dust, and the willows (柳树) by the hotel are fresh and green. On this morning, Wang has to say goodbye to his friend Yuan Er, who would leave for a faraway place called Anxi in today's Xinjiang.
The last two lines are the most well-known. Although most cities in China were prosperous (繁华的) during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the western areas were quite desolate (荒凉的).
The journey to the west would be full of hardship, Wang thought. So when Wang says “I invite you to drink a cup of wine again,” he is pouring his care and good wishes into the cup as well. Everyone wishes good luck before goodbye so the poem is really worth reading again and again.
A. A Farewell Song begins with a lovely morning scene.
B. The willows by the hotel look so fresh and green.
C. The poet invites Yuan to drink wine because he knows that life in Anxi will be tough.
D. It might be a little sad to say goodbye to your teachers and classmates.
E. This sincere love for his friend made this poem popular back then and it remains so today.
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