登柳州城楼寄漳汀封连四州刺史
柳宗元
城上高楼接大荒， 海天愁思正茫茫。
惊风乱飐芙蓉水， 密雨斜侵薜荔墙。
岭树重遮千里目， 江流曲似九回肠。
共来百越文身地， 犹自音书滞一乡。
from the city-tower of liuzhou
to my four fellow-officials at zhang,
ding, feng, and lian districts
liu zongyuan
at this lofty tower where the town ends, wilderness begins;
and our longing has as far to go as the ocean or the sky....
hibiscus-flowers by the moat heave in a sudden wind,
and vines along the wall are whipped with slanting rain.
nothing to see for three hundred miles but a blur of woods and mountain --
and the river's nine loops, twisting in our bowels....
this is where they have sent us, this land of tattooed people --
and not even letters, to keep us in touch with home.