示长安君
王安石
少年离别意非轻，老去相逢亦怆情。
草草杯盘供笑语，昏昏灯火话平生。
自怜湖海三年隔，又作尘沙万里行。
欲问归期何日是，寄书应见雁南征。

Our farewells were not easily said, when we were young.
Our reunions are even more sentimental, now we are aged.
Dishes casually laid, we chattered and bantered;
Candles dimly lit, we recounted life to each other.
Oceans apart we had been, day after day, for the past three years.
Miles away I would travel, in dirt and sand, to the frontier.
When would I return, you are about to ask.
Ask the migrating geese for messages, my dear.