白雪歌送武判官归京

岑参

北风卷地白草折， 胡天八月即飞雪；

忽如一夜春风来， 千树万树梨花开。

散入珠帘湿罗幕， 狐裘不暖锦衾薄。

将军角弓不得控， 都护铁衣冷犹著。

瀚海阑干百丈冰， 愁云黪淡万里凝。

中军置酒饮归客， 胡琴琵琶与羌笛。

纷纷暮雪下辕门， 风掣红旗冻不翻。

轮台东门送君去， 去时雪满天山路；

山回路转不见君， 雪上空留马行处。

A SONG OF WHITE SNOW IN FAREWELL TO FIELD-CLERK WU GOING HOME

Cen Can

The north wind rolls the white grasses and breaks them;

And the Eighth-month snow across the Tartar sky

Is like a spring gale¹, come up in the night,

Blowing open the petals² of ten thousand peartrees.

It enters the pearl blinds, it wets the silk curtains;

A fur coat feels cold, a cotton mat flimsy;

Bows become rigid³, can hardly be drawn⁴

And the metal of armour⁵ congeals⁶ on the men;

The sand-sea deepens with fathomless⁷ ice,

And darkness masses its endless clouds;

But we drink to our guest bound home from camp,

And play him barbarian⁸ lutes, guitars, harps⁹;

Till at dusk, when the drifts are crushing our tents

And our frozen red flags cannot flutter in the wind,

We watch him through Wheel-Tower Gate going eastward¹⁰.

Into the snow-mounds of Heaven-Peak Road....

And then he disappears at the turn of the pass,

Leaving behind him only hoof-prints.