Farewell to a Friend
—to the tune of He Xin Lang

(1923)

I wave my hand and go from here.
How can I bear to face you with a look so sad,
Pouring out your pent-up sorrow anew?
Your eyes and brows like keeping something back betray,
And down your cheeks you hold back the hot tears to flow.
I know you've misunderstood what I wrote before.
But all clouds and mists that pass our eyes will go.
In this human world who knows me better than you?

Does heaven know
How much on earth I owe?

From the east gate the road is rimed with frost,
The waning moon halfway up in the sky still sheds her light
So sad and drear on Clear Water Pool.
The whistle shrills and breaks our heart,
I'll go far, far away from here.
Oh, cut off the long thread of sorrow and regret
As the steep cliffs crumble down Mount Kunlun,
Or as the typhoon sweeps the world at last.
Then we may fly wing to wing
And cleave the clouds on high.