Yesterday has left me and can no longer be held back; today troubles my heart with so many cares. Winds sweeping ten thousand miles bring autumn geese; before such a scene, we may drink freely atop the lofty tower. Your writing has the richness of the Penglai library and the vigor of Jian’an literature; I too have poetic inspiration as fresh and graceful as the younger Xie’s. Both of us are filled with soaring delight, our expansive thoughts taking flight, wishing to climb the blue heavens and clasp the bright moon.

But drawing a blade to cut the water only makes it flow more swiftly; raising a cup to dispel sorrow only deepens it. Since life in this world cannot satisfy my heart, tomorrow I shall loosen my hair and sail away in a little boat.

宣州: present-day Xuancheng, Anhui. 谢脁（tiǎo）楼: a tower associated with Xie Tiao, the Southern Qi poet. 校书叔云: generally understood to be Li Yun; 校书郎 was an official responsible for collating classical texts.

蓬莱: originally the name of an immortal mountain; here it refers to the institution for storing and collating books, and to its writing. 建安骨: the vigorous, forceful style of Jian'an literature. 小谢: Xie Tiao.

逸兴: An untrammeled, transcendent enthusiasm. 清发: Fresh and splendidly expressed. 览明月: This page uses “览” (“view”); common versions also use “揽” (“grasp”), conveying the idea of ascending to heaven to grasp the moon.

散发: wearing the hair loose, signifying release from the restraints of official life and ritual propriety. 弄扁舟: roaming in a small boat.

Reading guide: This farewell poem opens with an abrupt outpouring of anxiety, then turns to ascending a tower, autumn geese, and the literary aspirations shared by host and guest, before returning to frustration that cannot be dispelled. Follow its emotional turns rather than reading it as a smoothly narrated farewell banquet.

“昨日” (yesterday) and “今日” (today) establish time as an irretrievable force from the outset. A long wind bearing geese suddenly opens the vista, lifting the spirits of host and guest as they discuss poetry; “欲上青天” (longing to ascend the blue heavens) carries the imagination to its highest point.

The attempts to sever water and dispel sorrow that follow bring us immediately back to reality. The more purposeful the action, the further the outcome strays from the wish, creating a powerful inner conflict. Letting his hair loose and taking to a boat is a decisive imagined departure, preserving the poet's desire for freedom without erasing his earlier indignation.