轮台歌奉送封大夫出师西征

岑参

轮台城头夜吹角， 轮台城北旄头落。

羽书昨夜过渠黎， 单于已在金山西。

戍楼西望烟尘黑， 汉兵屯在轮台北。

上将拥旄西出征， 平明吹笛大军行。

四边伐鼓雪海涌， 三军大呼阴山动。

虏塞兵气连云屯， 战场白骨缠草根。

剑河风急雪片阔， 沙口石冻马蹄脱。

亚相勤王甘苦辛， 誓将报主静边尘。

古来青史谁不见？ 今见功名胜古人。

A SONG OF WHEEL TOWER IN FAREWELL TO GENERAL

FENG OF THE WESTERN EXPEDITION

Cen Can

On Wheel Tower parapets night-bugles¹ are blowing,

Though the flag at the northern end hangs limp.

Scouts², in the darkness, are passing Quli,

Where, west of the Hill of Gold, the Tartar chieftain has halted

We can see, from the look-out, the dust and black smoke

Where Chinese troops are camping, north of Wheel Tower.

...Our flags now beckon³ the General farther west-

With bugles in the dawn he rouses his Grand Army;

Drums like a tempest pound on four sides

And the Yin Mountains shake with the shouts of ten thousand;

Clouds and the war-wind whirl up in a point

Over fields where grass-roots will tighten⁴ around white bones;

In the Dagger⁵ River mist, through a biting wind,

Horseshoes, at the Sand Mouth line, break on icy boulders⁶.

...Our General endures every pain, every hardship,

Commanded to settle the dust along the border.

We have read, in the Green Books, tales of old days-

But here we behold⁷ a living man, mightier⁸ than the dead.