古从军行

李颀

白日登山望烽火， 黄昏饮马傍交河。

行人刁斗风沙暗， 公主琵琶幽怨多。

野云万里无城郭， 雨雪纷纷连大漠。

胡雁哀鸣夜夜飞， 胡儿眼泪双双落。

闻道玉门犹被遮， 应将性命逐轻车。

年年战骨埋荒外， 空见葡萄入汉家。

AN OLD WAR-SONG

Li Qi

Through the bright day up the mountain, we scan the sky for a war-torch;

At yellow dusk we water our horses in the boundaryriver;

And when the throb¹ of watch-drums hangs in the sandy wind,

We hear the guitar of the Chinese Princess telling her endless woe²....

Three thousand miles without a town, nothing but camps,

Till the heavy sky joins the wide desert in snow.

With their plaintive³ calls, barbarian⁴ wildgeese fly from night to night,

And children of the Tartars have many tears to shed;

But we hear that the Jade⁵ Pass is still under siege,

And soon we stake our lives upon our light warchariots.

Each year we bury in the desert bones unnumbered,

Yet we only watch for grape-vines coming into China.