渔家傲 · 秋思

Autumn Thoughts at the Frontier

—To the Tune of “Pride of the Fisherman”

塞下秋来风景异，

Autumn descends¹ on the frontier, a scene unlike the old;

衡阳雁去无留意。

To Southern Hengshan wild geese fly away, in no mind to stay.

四面边声连角起，

From every side horns and border sounds together rise:

千嶂里，

Amid the peaks proud,

长烟落日孤城闭。

A lone² town sits with smoke straight under the setting sun, its gate shut tight.

浊酒一杯家万里，

With a cup of rustic³ wine to my hometown so far away,

燕然未勒归无计。

Before the foe’s defeated, I cannot make my way.

羌管悠悠霜满地，

The Qiang flute⁴ wails⁵ o’er the frost-covered ground in a doleful way;

人不寐，

None is asleep;

将军白发征夫泪。

The general’s hair turns white and the soldiers weep.