清 Qing · 诗 Poem
今别离
Parting Today
别肠转如轮，一刻既万周。
眼见双轮驰，益增中心忧。
古亦有山川，古亦有车舟。
车舟载离别，行止犹自由。
今日舟与车，并力生离愁。
明知须臾景，不许稍绸缪。
钟声一及时，顷刻不少留。
虽有万钧柁，动如绕指柔。
岂无打头风，亦不畏石尤。
送者未及返，君在天尽头。
望影倏不见，烟波杳悠悠。
去矣一何速，归定留滞不？
所愿君归时，快乘轻气球。
I watch the twin wheels speed, and my heart's grief only grows.
Of old there were hills and streams, of old there were carts and boats.
Carts and boats bore parting, yet their going and stopping stayed free.
But today's boats and carts, joined in force, breed parting sorrow.
Plainly I know the moment is brief, yet no lingering is allowed.
The bell sounds right on time, and in an instant stays not a whit.
Though there be a helm of myriad jun, it moves like softness wound round a finger.
How could there be no head-on wind? Yet I fear not the Stone-You either.
Before the one who sees off has turned back, you are at the sky's end.
Your figure vanishes in a blink; mist and waves fade far and faint.
How swift your going—will your return be delayed or not?
My only wish: when you come home, ride swift in a light balloon.
Meaning
A 'new departure' poem of the late Qing: the speaker compares ancient and modern parting, noting that steamships and trains make separation sudden and inescapable. Modern speed denies the old leisure of farewell, yet the poem closes with a hopeful modern image—a balloon for a swift return.
别肠转如轮，一刻既万周。眼见双轮驰，益增中心忧。古亦有山川，古亦有车舟。车舟载离别，行止犹自由。今日舟与车，并力生离愁。明知须臾景，不许稍绸缪。钟声一及时，顷刻不少留。虽有万钧柁，动如绕指柔。岂无打头风，亦不畏石尤。送者未及返，君在天尽头。望影倏不见，烟波杳悠悠。去矣一何速，归定留滞不？所愿君归时，快乘轻气球。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The poet figures the gut of parting as a turning wheel, countless rounds in an instant. He watches the twin wheels race and grieves the more. Of old there were hills, carts, boats—parting borne, but free in going and stopping. Today's boats and carts, joined in force, breed new sorrow. The moment is brief, no lingering allowed; the bell rings and stays not. Even a heavy helm moves like softness round a finger. Head-winds and the Stone-You fear not. Before the send-off turns back, you are at the sky's end; your figure gone, mist and waves fade. How swift the going—will return be delayed? My wish: ride home in a light balloon. [Structure] The poem contrasts ancient and modern parting, then zooms to the instant of departure and a forward-looking wish. [Imagery] The wheel images parting's restless churn; the bell and timetable figure modern inevitability; the balloon closes on hope. It is a landmark of the 'poetry revolution'—old theme, new world.
【白话串讲】 黄遵宪写《今别离》：“别肠转如轮，一刻既万周”——“古亦有山川，古亦有车舟”——“今日舟与车，并力生离愁”——“钟声一及时，顷刻不少留”——他写近代的离别——钟声一及时。 【意象与手法】 “别肠转如轮，一刻既万周”以车轮喻别肠；“古亦有山川，古亦有车舟”以古今对照；“今日舟与车，并力生离愁”以舟车写近代交通之速反增离愁；“钟声一及时，顷刻不少留”以钟声写时间；结以“所愿君归时，快乘轻气球”以新事物写归愿。以新事物入诗、旧题新境。 【情感与主旨】 黄遵宪“诗界革命”的代表作，以火车轮船等近代新事物写传统的离别题材，旧题新境，体现其“我手写吾口”的诗歌革新主张。 【名句点睛】 常考“别肠转如轮，一刻既万周”以车轮喻别肠；“今日舟与车，并力生离愁”以舟车写近代离别之愁。
Background
Huang Zunxian (1848–1905), courtesy name Gongdu, was a late-Qing poet, diplomat, and a leading voice of the 'poetry revolution' who urged 'my hand writes my own mouth.' He traveled as an envoy to Japan, the United States, and Europe, and his verse absorbs modern inventions—trains, steamships, the telegraph. Jin Bie Li (Parting Today) is a programmatic poem applying the traditional parting theme to modern transport, exemplifying his creed of new scenes in old forms. It stands among the most cited pieces of his reformed poetry.
《今别离》为清代诗人黄遵宪所作诗。黄遵宪（1848—1905），字公度，号人境庐主人，广东嘉应人，清末诗人、外交家，诗界革命的倡导者。此诗写送别新境，为咏近代新事物之作。诗中「别肠转如轮，一刻既万周」写别肠转如轮，一刻既万周；「古亦有山川，古亦有车舟」写古亦有山川，古亦有车舟；「今日舟与车，并力生离愁」写今日舟与车，并力生离愁；「送者未及返，君在天尽头」写送者未及返，君在天尽头；「所愿君归时，快乘轻气球」写所愿君归时，快乘轻气球。黄遵宪此诗以送别新境、快乘轻气球写其新境之情，深婉新境，是黄遵宪诗中的名篇。此篇《今别离》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《今别离》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。
Art
The art is 'veiled newness, feeling carried by the wheel.' The poem moves from the gut like a wheel, to hills and carts of old, to today's boats and carts. The opening figures parting as a turning wheel; the middle contrasts ancient free going with modern forced sorrow; the close wishes a balloon home. The whole is economical yet dense, its structure strict and its intent oblique, images compressed and resonant. The more one reads, the more one admires its conception—a rare fine piece, showing the poet's perfected craft in welding new matter to old form.
此诗艺术上以「深婉新境、以轮写情」见长。全诗由别肠转如轮而古亦有山川而今日舟与车。起「别肠转如轮，一刻既万周」写别肠转如轮：别肠转如轮，一刻既万周；「古亦有山川，古亦有车舟」写古亦有山川：古亦有山川，古亦有车舟；「今日舟与车，并力生离愁」写今日舟与车：今日舟与车，并力生离愁；「送者未及返，君在天尽头」写送者未及返：送者未及返，君在天尽头；结「所愿君归时，快乘轻气球」写快乘轻气球：所愿君归时，快乘轻气球。全诗以轮写情，由别肠转如轮而快乘轻气球，深婉新境，是黄遵宪诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。
Allusions
Several lines carry reference. 'The gut of parting turns like a wheel' figures restless grief. 'Of old there were carts and boats' evokes the traditional parting scene. 'You are at the sky's end' uses the 'end of the sky' trope for distant separation. 'A light balloon' names the modern airship as a new image of homecoming. The poet folds the 'sky's end' trope into the verse without trace, making the new-scene grief palpable—a model of assimilating allusion without pedantry, ancient and modern in one breath.
诗中「别肠转如轮一刻既万周」「古亦有山川古亦有车舟」「今日舟与车并力生离愁」「送者未及返君在天尽头」「所愿君归时快乘轻气球」等语，皆含典故故实。「别肠转如轮一刻既万周」写别肠转如轮一刻既万周；「古亦有山川古亦有车舟」写古亦有山川古亦有车舟；「今日舟与车并力生离愁」写今日舟与车并力生离愁；「送者未及返君在天尽头」用天尽头之典（天尽头写天涯），写送者未及返君在天尽头；「所愿君归时快乘轻气球」写所愿君归时快乘轻气球。诗人用天尽头之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把送别新境之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。
Commentary
Jin Bie Li is Huang Zunxian's poem of parting in the new age, voicing the wheel-like gut, the carts of old, today's boats and carts, and the wish for a balloon home. It opens with parting like a wheel; recalls ancient hills and boats; notes modern joined transport breeds sorrow; and closes on a swift balloon return. 'My wish: ride home in a light balloon' is the poem's resting point, figuring the new scene. Veiled and new, carried by the wheel, it is a celebrated piece in his reformed poetry.
这首《今别离》，是黄遵宪写送别新境之作，写别肠转如轮、古亦有山川、今日舟与车、快乘轻气球之情，深婉新境。起「别肠转如轮，一刻既万周」——别肠转如轮，一刻既万周。写别肠转如轮：别肠转如轮、一刻既万周——转如轮、既万周；「古亦有山川，古亦有车舟」——古亦有山川，古亦有车舟。写古亦有山川：古亦有山川、古亦有车舟——有山川、有车舟；「今日舟与车，并力生离愁」——今日舟与车，并力生离愁。写今日舟与车：今日舟与车、并力生离愁——舟与车、生离愁；「送者未及返，君在天尽头」——送者未及返，君在天尽头。写送者未及返：送者未及返、君在天尽头——未及返、天尽头；结「所愿君归时，快乘轻气球」——所愿君归时，快乘轻气球。写快乘轻气球：所愿君归时、快乘轻气球——君归时、轻气球。这「所愿君归时，快乘轻气球」，是全诗之结：以快乘轻气球写其新境。全诗深婉新境，以轮写情，正是黄遵宪诗中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
别肠转如轮，一刻既万周。
The gut of parting turns like a wheel, in one instant ten thousand rounds.
别肠转如轮，一刻既万周。
The grieving heart of parting turns like a wheel, and in a single moment revolves ten thousand times.
起句写别肠转如轮，起笔即见其别肠。「别肠转如轮」写别肠转如轮，「别肠」写别肠、「转如轮」写转如轮；「一刻既万周」写一刻既万周，「一刻」写一刻、「既万周」写既万周。一句写别肠转如轮一刻既万周，以别肠转如轮写转如轮、以一刻既万周写既万周，写尽别肠转如轮、一刻既万周之情。以轮起兴，深婉而新境，是「以轮起兴」的妙笔。
The opening writes the grieving heart of parting turns like a wheel, the parting heart visible from the first stroke. The grieving heart of parting turns like a wheel: parting heart the anguished breast, turns like a wheel the rotating simile. In a single moment revolves ten thousand times: a moment the brief time, ten thousand times the number of turns. One line: the parting heart turning like a wheel, ten thousand revolutions in a moment. Writing the wheel-like rotation, and the myriad turns in an instant, exhausts the feeling: the parting breast like a wheel, ten thousand circuits in a moment. Rising on the wheel, deep and delicate in a new realm, the finest stroke of rising on the machine.
古亦有山川，古亦有车舟。
Of old there were hills and streams, of old there were carts and boats.
古亦有山川，古亦有车舟。
Of old there were also mountains and rivers; of old there were also carts and boats.
此句写古亦有山川，是全诗写古之态的关键。「古亦有山川」写古亦有山川，「古亦有」写古亦有、「山川」写山川；「古亦有车舟」写古亦有车舟，「古亦有」写古亦有、「车舟」写车舟。一句写古亦有山川古亦有车舟，以古亦有山川写山川、以古亦有车舟写车舟，写尽古亦有山川、古亦有车舟之情。以古写情，深婉而新境，是「以古写情」的点睛之笔。
The line writes of old there were also mountains and rivers, the key to the poem's writing of the ancient. Of old there were also mountains and rivers: of old there were the long-ago, mountains and rivers the landscape. Of old there were also carts and boats: carts and boats the ancient conveyances. One line: mountains and rivers of old, carts and boats of old. Writing the ancient landscape and the ancient conveyances, exhausts the feeling: of old the rivers, of old the boats. Writing feeling through the ancient, deep and delicate in a new realm, the crowning stroke of writing emotion through the old.
送者未及返，君在天尽头。
Before the one who sees off has turned back, you are at the sky's end.
送者未及返，君在天尽头。
The one who sped you off has not yet returned, and already you are at the edge of the sky.
此句写送者未及返，是全诗写送者之态的关键。「送者未及返」写送者未及返，「送者」写送者、「未及返」写未及返；「君在天尽头」用天尽头之典写君在天尽头，「君在」写君在、「天尽头」写天尽头。一句写送者未及返君在天尽头，以送者未及返写未及返、以君在天尽头写天尽头，写尽送者未及返、君在天尽头之情。以人写情，深婉而新境，是「以人写情」的点睛之笔。
The line writes the one who sped you off has not yet returned, the key to the poem's writing of the one who sees off. The one who sped you off has not yet returned: the escort the friend at the riverbank, not yet returned the journey not done. Already you are at the edge of the sky uses the allusion to the sky's end; you are at the edge of the sky the distance reached. One line: the escort not yet returned, you at the sky's end. Writing the unfinished return, and the distance at the world's edge, exhausts the feeling: the one who saw you off not yet back, and you already at the rim. Writing feeling through the person, deep and delicate in a new realm, the crowning stroke of writing emotion through the traveler.
所愿君归时，快乘轻气球。
My only wish: when you come home, ride swift in a light balloon.
所愿君归时，快乘轻气球。
My only wish is that when you come home, you will ride here swiftly in a balloon.
结句写快乘轻气球，是全诗立意的落点。「所愿君归时」写所愿君归时，「所愿」写所愿、「君归时」写君归时；「快乘轻气球」写快乘轻气球，「快乘」写快乘、「轻气球」写轻气球。一句写所愿君归时快乘轻气球，以所愿君归时写君归时、以快乘轻气球写轻气球，写尽所愿君归时、快乘轻气球之情。以球写情，深婉而新境，是全诗最动人处，也是「以球写情」的点睛之笔。
The close writes you will ride here swiftly in a balloon, where the poem's meaning comes to rest. My only wish is that when you come home: my only wish the hope, when you return the coming back. Swiftly in a balloon: swiftly the speed, balloon the air vessel. One line: my wish for your return, a swift balloon. Writing the homecoming hoped for, and the swift balloon, exhausts the feeling: when you return, ride the balloon. Writing feeling through the balloon, deep and delicate in a new realm, the most moving passage of the poem, the crowning stroke of writing emotion through the new machine.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Su Shi's Shui Diao Ge Tou, 'men have grief and joy, parting and meeting; the moon is bright or dim,' is a famous long Song lyric of parting. Huang's Jin Bie Li answers with 'you are at the sky's end' and 'the gut like a wheel.' Both turn on parting—Su capacious, Huang veiled and new—revealing two manners of writing 'parting feeling.'
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写别离感怀、深婉旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；黄遵宪《今别离》则以「送者未及返，君在天尽头」「别肠转如轮」写天尽头、转如轮。两诗同写别离感怀、深婉旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写送者未及返君在天尽头、以轮写别离；一为苏轼之旷达、一为黄遵宪之深婉，并读正可见诗写「别离感怀」的两种笔法，皆于别离之中见深婉。
八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Ba Sheng Gan Zhou · On the Misty Rain Falling at Dusk over River and Sky 柳永 · 同写烟波凝望、深婉清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写望影倏不见烟波杳悠悠，皆于烟波之中见凝望 Both write gazing over mist and waves—one with 'misty rain at dusk over river and sky,' the other with 'your figure gone, mist and waves fade far'—gazing within the mist and waves.Liu Yong's Ba Sheng Gan Zhou, 'on the misty rain falling at dusk over river and sky, washing clear the autumn,' is a famous Song lyric of travel-lament. Huang's answers with 'mist and waves fade far and faint' and 'of old there were hills.' Both gaze over mist and waves—Liu clear and lovely, Huang veiled and new—showing two ways of writing 'gazing over mist and waves.'
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写烟波凝望、深婉清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；黄遵宪《今别离》则以「望影倏不见，烟波杳悠悠」「古亦有山川」写杳悠悠、有山川。两诗同写烟波凝望、深婉清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写望影倏不见烟波杳悠悠、以烟波写别离；一为柳永之清丽、一为黄遵宪之深婉，并读正可见诗写「烟波凝望」的两种笔法，皆于烟波之中见凝望。