Farewell to Vice Prefect Tu Setting Out for His Official Post in Shu

Wang Po
Kiang Kang-Hu & Witter Bynner , Translator

By a wall that circles the three Ch'in districts,
In a mist that makes five rivers one,
We bid each other a sad farewell,
We two official wanderers. . . .
And yet, while the Four Seas bind our friendship
And heaven remains our neighborhood,
Why should you linger there at the cross-road,
Rubbing your eyes like a heart-broken child?

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