登鸛雀樓 original text
Stay close to the sentence.
The white sun depends on the mountain and comes to an end.
The Yellow River enters the sea and flows.
If I want to exhaust the view of a thousand miles,
I must go up one more level of the tower.
Let the image breathe.
The white sun sinks beyond the mountains,
the Yellow River runs toward the sea.
To see a thousand miles in full,
climb one more story of the tower.
What to know
The poem is remembered for its direct architecture: two lines establish scale, and two lines turn that scale into action. Its closing image has made it a lasting expression of learning through effort and perspective.
What to notice
The first half moves outward from mountain to river to sea. The second half turns inward to the speaker’s decision. The tower is both a real place of viewing and a compact image for the next step needed to understand more.
Three useful phrases.
- 白日
- the bright or white sun, often the setting sun in this scene
- 窮
- to reach the furthest extent or see completely
- 更上
- to climb higher again or take one more step upward