Song Dynasty
Courtyard Full of Fragrance · Let Me Return
Su Shi
归去来兮，吾归何处？万里家在岷峨。
百年强半，来日苦无多。
坐见黄州再闰，儿童尽、楚语吴歌。
山中友，鸡豚社酒，相劝老东坡。
云何。当此去，人生底事，来往如梭。
待闲看秋风，洛水清波。
好在堂前细柳，应念我、莫剪柔柯。
仍传语，江南父老，时与晒渔蓑。
Translation
'Let me return, let me return' — but where is there for me to return? My home lies ten thousand miles away, among Min and Emei. Of a hundred years, more than half has passed; the days to come are painfully few. I have sat and watched Huangzhou pass through another leap year; my children have all learned the songs and speech of Chu and Wu. Friends in the hills bring chicken, pork, and village wine, urging and comforting old Dongpo. What can be done? Now I must leave again. What is human life, but coming and going like the shuttle of a loom? When I have leisure, I will watch the autumn wind and the clear waves of the Luo River. May the slender willows before the hall remain well. If they remember me, do not cut their tender branches. And please send word to the elders of Jiangnan: from time to time, air out my fisherman's raincoat in the sun.
Analysis
This lyric was written when Su Shi was leaving Huangzhou and bidding farewell to his neighbors and friends at the Snow Hall. Huangzhou was one of the most important places in Su Shi's life — the place of his deepest political exile and also the place where he rebuilt his inner life and wrote some of his greatest works. The opening, 'Let me return,' echoes Tao Yuanming's 'Return Home.' But Su Shi immediately changes its meaning by asking, 'Where is there for me to return?' For Tao, return meant withdrawal to the fields. For Su Shi, the question is more painful: his native Sichuan is far away, and his official movements are not under his control. 'Return' becomes a question of spiritual belonging. Yet Su Shi does not remain in despair. He turns to the life he has built in Huangzhou: his children speak the local dialect, his friends bring village wine. 'What is human life, but coming and going like the shuttle of a loom?' is the philosophical core. Still, he imagines the clear waves of the Luo River in autumn, finding new scenery ahead. The ending is gentle: he asks that the willows not be cut and that the elders air out his fisherman's raincoat. The poem contains exile, aging, homelessness, and departure, but also friendship, village wine, willows, humor, and tenderness.
About the Author
Su Shi, courtesy name Zizhan and literary name Dongpo Jushi, was a major writer, statesman, calligrapher, painter, and poet of the Northern Song dynasty. Born in Meishan, Meizhou, he is one of the 'Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song.' His exile to Huangzhou was a turning point in his life and writing, deepening his philosophical outlook and producing some of his most celebrated works. Su Shi greatly expanded the range of ci poetry, allowing it to include history, landscape, politics, farming, travel, humor, daily life, and personal reflection. His enduring appeal lies in his ability to meet hardship with clarity, warmth, and spiritual largeness.