晓出净慈寺送林子方曉出淨慈寺送林子方
bì jìng毕竟Xī hú西湖Liù yuè六月zhōng中，
fēng guāng风光bù不yǔ与sì shí四时tóng同。
jiē接tiān天lián莲xié叶wú qióng无穷bì碧，
yìng映rì日hé huā荷花bié yàng别样gōng红。
Line by line
- 毕竟西湖六月中，畢竟西湖六月中， After all, this is West Lake in the sixth month,
- 风光不与四时同。風光不與四時同。 when the scenery is like no other season.
- 接天莲叶无穷碧，接天蓮葉無窮碧， Lotus leaves reach the sky in boundless green,
- 映日荷花别样红。映日荷花別樣紅。 and sunlit blossoms blaze a red apart.
The poet & the story
Yang Wanli wrote this seeing off his friend Lin Zifang at dawn outside Jingci Temple on Hangzhou’s West Lake. Some read it as gentle persuasion: the capital (and the lake) is where the opportunities are — don’t take that provincial posting. Lin went anyway; the poem stayed.
Interpretation
After all, this is West Lake in the sixth month, when the scenery is like no other season: lotus leaves stretch to meet the sky in boundless green, and under the sun the blossoms are a red unlike any other. A farewell poem with no sadness in it — just the friend’s eyes filled, one last time, with the most beautiful view in China.