Home › Poems › Yellow Crane Tower
Huáng Hè LóuYellow Crane Tower 黄鹤楼
Cui Hao's poem that even Li Bai would not try to top.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
昔人已乘黄鹤去
xī rén yǐ chéng huáng hè qù
此地空余黄鹤楼
cǐ dì kōng yú huáng hè lóu
黄鹤一去不复返
huáng hè yī qù bù fù fǎn
白云千载空悠悠
bái yún qiān zài kōng yōu yōu
晴川历历汉阳树
qíng chuān lì lì hàn yáng shù
芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲
fāng cǎo qī qī yīng wǔ zhōu
日暮乡关何处是
rì mù xiāng guān hé chù shì
烟波江上使人愁
yān bō jiāng shàng shǐ rén chóu
Simplified characters; traditional title: 黃鶴樓.
Note on the text: Variant: some early texts read 昔人已乘白云去.
English translation
The sage on yellow crane was gone amid clouds white.
To what avail is Yellow Crane Tower left here?
Once gone, the yellow crane will ne'er on earth alight;
Only white clouds still float in vain from year to year.
By sunlit river trees can be counted one by one;
On Parrot Islet sweet green grass grows fast and thick.
Where is my native land beyond the setting sun?
The mist-veiled waves of River Han make me homesick.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
The first half breaks the rules of regulated verse on purpose, repeating "yellow crane" three times so that the legend echoes. The empty tower, the crane that never returns and the endless clouds create a feeling of time passing. The second half shifts to a clear, precise view, then to dusk and homesickness. The movement from myth to scenery to personal sorrow is why the poem is often ranked first among Tang regulated verses.
Background
The tower in Wuchang (Wuhan) was linked with a legend of an immortal who flew away on a yellow crane. This page uses the standard modern text 昔人已乘黄鹤去; the Japanese data and some early sources read 昔人已乘白云去 ("…flown away on white clouds").
Key words
- 昔人 xī rén
- the man of old (the immortal)
- 悠悠 yōu yōu
- drifting endlessly
- 鹦鹉洲 Yīngwǔ Zhōu
- Parrot Island
- 乡关 xiāng guān
- homeland
About the poet: Cui Hao
Cui Hao is remembered above all for "Yellow Crane Tower." According to legend, when Li Bai visited the tower and saw Cui's poem, he declined to write one of his own.
Lifetime: c. 704–754. Other famous works: Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼).