Under a Border-fortress
- Poetry of Wang Changling

《塞下曲》

- Last updated: 2024-04-21 10:27:41

中文原文

饮马渡秋水，水寒风似刀。

平沙日未没，黯黯见临洮。

昔日长城战，咸言意气高。

黄尘足今古，白骨乱蓬蒿。

English Translation

Drink, my horse, while we cross the autumn water!-

The stream is cold and the wind like a sword,

As we watch against the sunset on the sandy plain,

Far, far away, shadowy Lingtao.

Old battles, waged by those long walls,

Once were proud on all men's tongues.

But antiquity now is a yellow dust,

Confusing in the grasses its ruins and white bones.

Folk-song-styled-verse

Why Chinese poems is so special?: The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.

How to read a Chinese poem?: Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.

List of Chinese poets