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。
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.