Li Bai (701-762) was one of the greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty.
宣城见杜鹃花
蜀国[1]曾闻子规鸟[2]，
宣城还见杜鹃花[3]。
一叫一回肠一断，
三春三月忆三巴[4]。
写这首诗的时候，李白已是迟暮之年。流放途中遇赦的他，流落江南，晚景凄凉。看见杜鹃花开，想起蜀中这时节，杜鹃也开始啼叫了，可是这杜鹃啼血是最听不得的呀，诗人的思乡情肠被触动了，况且当年他仗剑去国，辞亲远游，正待施展雄才大略，何等潇洒，如今功业未成，岁月蹉跎，缠绵病榻，不知能否再见故乡，满心的悲戚和浓浓的乡愁不觉涌上心头。
注释：
[1]蜀国：指四川。
[2]子规鸟：又名杜鹃，因鸣声凄厉，动人乡思，故俗称断肠鸟，传说是古蜀王杜宇死后幻化而成。
[3]杜鹃花：即映山红，因每年春末盛开，恰逢杜鹃鸟啼之时，故名杜鹃花。
[4]三巴：巴郡、巴东、巴西三郡，即指蜀国，今四川。
Azalea Blooms Viewed in Xuancheng
I’ve heard home-going cuckoos sing in Western Towers[1],
And here and now I see the blooming cuckoo flowers[2],
I turn away:my heart will break to hear them sing,
For they remind me of my homeland in late spring.
Notes：
[1]In present-day Sichuan Province,homeland of the poet.
[2]Chinese name for azalea flowers which bloom when cuckoos cry“Go home!”and accord ing to Chinese legend,shed bloody tears.
When Li Bai wrote this poem, he was already in his twilight years. He was pardoned during his exile and lived in the south of the Yangtze River, where his later years were miserable. Seeing the azalea blossoms, he remembered that at this time in Sichuan, the cuckoos also began to cry, but the cuckoo’s blood-curdling cry was the most unbearable to hear. The poet’s homesickness was touched. Moreover, he left the country with a sword, bid farewell to his family and traveled far away, ready to display his great talents and strategies. How unrestrained he was. Now his achievements have not been completed, his years have been wasted, and he is bedridden. He doesn’t know if he can see his hometown again. He is filled with sadness and homesickness.
