Taking Leave of Wang Wei
留別王侍御維
Liú bié Wáng shì yù Wéi
Also called 留別王維.
A disappointed visitor turns toward home while regretting the loss of a rare understanding friend. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation.
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Read the original and its translation together. Open a line’s word meanings for a closer look.
About the text and pronunciation
The simplified view changes character forms, not the edition. Notes and sources retain the cited text.
The Chinese source is shown in traditional characters by default, with a simplified view available. Pinyin is modern standard Mandarin, a reading aid, not Tang or Song pronunciation.
Word by word, in the order of the line. A gloss is a crib. It is not the translation.
Word meanings — Line 1
- 寂寂 jì jì silent and lonely
- 竟 jìng after all
- 何待 hé dài wait for what
Word meanings — Line 2
- 朝朝 zhāo zhāo every morning
- 空 kōng in vain
- 自歸 zì guī return alone
Word meanings — Line 3
- 欲 yù want
- 尋 xún seek
- 芳草 fāng cǎo fragrant grass
- 去 qù leave
Word meanings — Line 4
- 惜 xī regret
- 與 yǔ with
- 故人 gù rén old friend
- 違 wéi part
Word meanings — Line 5
- 當路 dāng lù those holding power
- 誰 shuí who
- 相 xiāng toward me
- 假 jiǎ lend or assist
Word meanings — Line 6
- 知音 zhī yīn understanding friend
- 世 shì world
- 所稀 suǒ xī what is rare
Word meanings — Line 7
- 秪 zhǐ only
- 應 yīng should
- 守 shǒu keep to
- 索寞 suǒ mò desolation
Word meanings — Line 8
- 還 huán return
- 掩 yǎn close
- 故園 gù yuán old home
- 扉 fēi door or gate
English translation by PoemWell.
Read the whole poem
Original
寂寂竟何待，
朝朝空自歸。
欲尋芳草去，
惜與故人違。
當路誰相假，
知音世所稀。
秪應守索寞，
還掩故園扉。
Translation
In this silence, what am I waiting for after all?
Every morning, I come back with nothing.
I want to leave and seek the fragrant grass,
but regret parting from an old friend.
Who among those in power will lend me support?
Someone who understands is rare in this world.
I suppose I must keep to my desolation,
returning to close the gate of the old home.
Try it from memory
After reading, recall the underlined word or phrase in each line. Say its meaning before opening the answer. These prompts use the text edition printed above.
-
Line 1 · What does the marked word mean?
寂寂竟何待，
Pronunciation hint
jì jì
Reveal meaning and translation
寂寂 — silent and lonely
In this silence, what am I waiting for after all?
-
Line 5 · What does the marked word mean?
當路誰相假，
Pronunciation hint
dāng lù
Reveal meaning and translation
當路 — those holding power
Who among those in power will lend me support?
-
Line 8 · What does the marked word mean?
還掩故園扉。
Pronunciation hint
gù yuán
Reveal meaning and translation
故園 — old home
returning to close the gate of the old home.
One more question: what changes?
Compare the opening and closing lines. What changes in the scene, the speaker’s attention, or the feeling? Choose a Chinese word as evidence, then compare your reading with the notes. More than one answer may be reasonable.
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Line-by-line notes
Lines 1–2 · Waiting that repeats
竟 makes the opening question pressing after a period of waiting. 朝朝 answers it with mornings repeating one after another. In 空自歸, 空 gives each return its futility. The English “with nothing” makes the disappointed expectation felt without identifying exactly what the speaker hoped to receive.
Lines 3–4 · A reason to go and a reason to stay
欲 and 惜 make the speaker’s wishes pull apart. 芳草 is the fragrant grass he wants to seek away from here. 故人 is the old friend he would leave, and 違 is parting or going apart. The contrast gives both choices a real cost.
Lines 5–6 · Help and understanding
當路 suggests occupying a place on the road and refers here to people in positions of power. 假 is lending or giving help. In the next line, 知音 has a musical association and means a person who truly understands. One line asks who can help, while the other names the rarity of someone who understands. That difference gives the goodbye to Wang Wei its particular weight.
Lines 7–8 · The door that closes
The selected 索寞 describes desolation. The collection also records 寂寞, another wording for the loneliness. 守 means to keep to it, and 掩 gives the closing of the old home’s gate a small, definite action. The opening kept asking what to wait for, but the ending lets the speaker choose where to return.
Form and tone
Eight five-character lines develop two questions and their consequences. 待 in the opening remains unanswered; 誰 asks more specifically about help. 歸, 違, 稀, and 扉 rhyme, linking return, separation, scarcity, and closure.
See the regulated verse guide for the form. Pinyin gives modern Mandarin pronunciation; no unverified historical tone grid is supplied.
Historical context
The title names Wang Wei through his official designation. The poem speaks frankly about frustrated hopes without giving a complete record of a court decision. Personal recognition and official opportunity are related but distinct needs in its middle lines.
Continue with Meng Haoran or the farewell shelf.
Sources
Chinese text compared with 留別王侍御維, public transcription on Wikisource. We follow 索寞 in the final couplet; the cited collection also records 寂寞. Both describe desolation, but the displayed Chinese retains one reading. Punctuation is editorial; the English translation and reading notes are original to PoemWell.
English translation, gloss, and notes by PoemWell. The translation is original to this site.
The Chinese source is shown in traditional characters by default, with a simplified view available. Pinyin is modern standard Mandarin, a reading aid, not Tang or Song pronunciation.
Updated .
Cite this reading
Meng Haoran. “Taking Leave of Wang Wei” (留別王侍御維). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .
https://poemwell.org/poems/taking-leave-of-wang-wei
Credit the poet for the Chinese original and PoemWell for this translation and commentary. Use the permanent page link above; source editions are listed separately.