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Wei Ying-wu (737–792) was from Ch’ang-an and wrote this in 785 when he was serving as magistrate of Suchou. He had been rusticated to the South in 781, and this was the last of a series of posts he held along the lower reaches of the Yangtze. Some commentators say this poem was written in 784 at his previous post in Chuchou, which also had a West Tower—but not one that faced the road from the capital to the northwest, as did Su-chou’s. The refugees were most likely the result of the wars that took place (781–786) between the T’ang court and the independent governors farther north along the Yellow River. But severe floods remain common in this region. Li Tan was a friend of the poet who was serving as a palace historian and with whom Wei exchanged poems.

In Reply to Li Tan

WEI YING-WU

We parted last year among flowers

this year they’re blooming again

the haze of the world is hard to penetrate

troubled by the cares of spring I fall asleep alone

my body is ill my thoughts are in the fields

I’m ashamed of my salary with refugees in town

I heard you were planning to come for a visit

how many moons have I watched from West Tower