Sorrow and Separation

Poets use the long flow of water to depict the sorrow of separation, which expresses their homesickness and nostalgia.

 

In Li Bai’s “Seeing Meng Haoran Off from Yellow Crane Tower,” The last two sentences “Lonely sail, distant shadow, Vanish in blue emptiness; All I see is the Yangtze River flowing into the far horizon” depicts the scene that with the river flowing incessantly, the shadow of the lone boat sail gradually disappeared at the end of the blue sky, only to see the rolling Yangtze River rushing towards the sky. In this poem, since as the water of the Yangtze River flows, Li Bai can no longer see Meng Haoran, the river becomes a barrier between Li Bai and Meng Haoran, reflecting Li Bai’s reluctance and miss for his friend.

 

Moreover, in Li Bai’s “With Wang Changling, he sent his family brother Xiang to Guiyang,” the sentence “It’s sad to see you go, but the sails are all over the river” means that the vast and wide water surface hinders the free movement of the ancients, and the water symbolizes the obstacle, expressing the melancholy pain of the main character who cannot get what he wants. Using water as a barrier between two people, the poet writes about his sorrow of parting.

 

In addition, in Wang Wei’s “Send Zhang Wu Yi back to Xuan Cheng,” the sentence “The five lakes are ten million miles long, and the five lakes are west” depicts how the large area of water makes Wang Wei and the person he misses thousands of miles apart and how the water becomes a resistance to their meeting. By comparing the water to the barrier between them, the poet expresses the hardship of meeting his friend and his endless longing for him.