城上高楼接大荒，海天愁思正茫茫。
惊风乱［风占）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.