— Li Qi
At dawn I hear the roamer’s farewell song;
Last night a thin frost crossed the river long.
Are you not grieved to hear the wild geese cry?
Can you bear clouds and mountains passing by?
Yellow leaves hasten the cold to come near.
Could washerwomen’s song reach their men’s ear?
Don’t make merry in the capital town
And waste the prime of your life up and down!
Note
Li Qi (c. 690–751) was a prominent poet of the High Tang Dynasty, renowned for his vivid imagery, emotional depth, and masterful farewell poems. Though he held only minor official posts, his works – especially parting verses – are celebrated for blending natural scenery with philosophical reflection on ambition, transience, and the scholar’s path.
His poem “Sending Wei Wan to the Capital” captures the melancholy of autumn departure. It opens with the traveler singing a farewell song at dawn, while frost from the previous night has just crossed the river – a subtle sign of winter’s approach. The cry of wild geese deepens the sorrow of parting, and distant clouds and mountains loom even more desolate for a wanderer far from home.
As Wei Wan journeys toward Chang’an (the capital), Li Qi paints the city’s outskirts: trees near the frontier pass turning color with impending cold, and evening pounding-block sounds (zhen – used for laundering clothes in imperial gardens) growing frequent, signaling the season’s turn.
In the final couplet, Li Qi offers gentle but firm advice: Don’t be dazzled by pleasures in Chang’an – don’t let your youth slip away in idle enjoyment. It’s both a warning and an encouragement to pursue purpose, not distraction.
This is a farewell poem written by Li Qi to his friend Wei Wan, who later changed his name to Wei Hao. Wei had once pursued Daoist practices and lived as a recluse on Mount Wangwu. In 754 CE under Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, deeply admiring Li Bai’s fame, he traveled south over three thousand li through the Wu and Yue regions in search of him, finally meeting Li Bai in Guangling (modern-day Yangzhou). Li Bai held Wei Wan in high regard and entrusted him with compiling his collected poems. At their parting, Li Bai even composed a long poem titled “Farewell to Wei Wan of Mount Wangwu, Returning to Wangwu” for him.
Although Wei Wan belonged to a younger generation than Li Qi, the two shared a close, affectionate friendship that transcended age – what the Chinese call a “friendship between generations” (such as the friendship between Kong Rong and Mi Heng in the Three Kingdoms period). In his later years, Li Qi lived in Yingyang but frequently visited Luoyang; this poem was likely composed during one of those stays in Luoyang in his old age.
送魏万之京
— 李颀
朝闻游子唱离歌，
昨夜微霜初渡河。
鸿雁不堪愁里听，
云山况是客中过。
关城树色催寒近，
御苑砧声向晚多。
莫见长安行乐处，
空令岁月易蹉跎。
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