In the faint moonlight, geese fly high,
The Tatar chiefs are fleeing from the darkness.
We chased them, with light horses,
Our bows and swords are covered with snow.
[Notes]
1. Sai Qu Xia: an ancient frontier fortress military song.
2. Moonlight: There is no moonlight.
3. ChanYu (chán yú): Xiongnu leader. This refers to the supreme commander of the invaders.
4. escape: escape.
5. Will: Leadership.
Qingqi: Light cavalry and fast cavalry.
7. catch up.
translate
On a quiet night, geese fly high,
Khan slipped away in the dark.
Was about to lead the light cavalry to catch up,
The snow fell on my bow and knife.
[Brief analysis]
This is the third poem in Lulun's "Xia Sai Qu" series. Lu Lun used to be a marshal and judge of the shogunate, and he had an understanding of the life of soldiers. Poems describing this life are rich and vigorous. This poem is about the heroic feat of the general preparing to lead his troops in pursuit of the enemy on a snowy night.
The first two sentences are about the enemy fleeing. "In the bright moonlight, geese are soaring", and the moon is covered by clouds and dark. Su Yan started up and flew high. "Chief Tatar fled in the dark." On an unusually dark night this month, the enemy sneaked away. "Khan" originally refers to the supreme ruler of Xiongnu, and here refers to the invaders of Qidan and other nationalities who often invaded the south at that time.
In the last two sentences, the general is prepared to chase the enemy, which is very impressive. "And we chase it, and the horse is light and heavy." The general found the enemy absconding and wanted to lead the light cavalry to pursue it; Just as we were about to leave, there was a heavy snow, and suddenly the bow and knife were covered with snowflakes. The last sentence "and the burden of snow on our bows and swords" is a description of the cold scene, which highlights the difficulty of fighting and the brave spirit of soldiers.
This poem is full of scenes. The enemy troops fled in the scene of "geese flying in the bright moonlight", and the general was going to pursue them in the scene of "there was a layer of snow on our bow and our sword". The atmosphere of running and chasing is as follows.
The whole poem does not describe the process of chasing the enemy in the snow, nor does it directly describe the fierce battle scenes, but it leaves a very rich imagination space for people.
This is the third of the six poems in Song of the Frontier. Although Lu Lun was a poet in the middle Tang Dynasty, his frontier poems are still full of vigor and vitality in the Tang Dynasty, and their poems are heroic and inspiring.
There is a sentence or two "high in the dim moonlight, wild geese are soaring, and the Tatar chief is fleeing in the dark" to describe the enemy's rout. "The moon is dark and windy" and there is no light. "Goose flies high", there is no sound. Taking advantage of this dark and silent night, the enemy quietly escaped. Khan was the supreme ruler of the ancient Huns, and here he refers to the supreme commander of the invaders. When he ran away at night, he could see that they had completely collapsed.
Despite the cover of darkness, the enemy's actions were discovered by our army. "And I chase it, the horse is light and heavy, and the bow and sword bear the snow." Three or four sentences, writing that our army is ready to pursue, show the mighty spirit of the soldiers. Imagine a cavalry trooper marching away, and suddenly the bow, arrow and knife are covered with snow. What an exciting scene!
Judging from this poem, Lu Lun is very good at capturing images and opportunities. He can not only capture the typical image, but also show it in the most artistic moment. The poet doesn't write about how the army attacked, nor does he tell you whether he caught up with the enemy. He only described a scene he was going to pursue, which effectively set off the atmosphere and emotions at that time. "We chase them, the burden of horses is light, and our bows and swords are burdened with snow" is not the climax of this battle. It is the moment when the climax is approaching. This moment, like an arrow on the string, is the most attractive force. You may feel dissatisfied because you didn't explain the result. But only in this way can it be more enlightening and stimulate readers' association and imagination. This is called infinite meaning. The dragon sees the head but doesn't see the tail, not the tail. The tail is looming in the clouds, which is more interesting.
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Song of the plug
Lulun
The forest was black and the wind hit the grass, but the general tried to shoot an arrow at night.
The next morning, he found his white arrow deeply stuck in the hard rock.
translate
In the dark forest, the grass suddenly swayed and rustled with the wind. The general thought the beast was coming, so he quickly drew his bow and shot an arrow.
Looking for an arrow at dawn, it has fallen deeply into the stone edge.
To annotate ...
(1) Xia Sai-the title of the ancient songs. Most of these works describe frontier scenery and war life.
(2) fright-suddenly blown by the wind.
Bowing-Bowing and opening, including the next archery.
(4) Plain and bright-just before dawn.
⑤ White feather-the white feather behind the shaft, which refers to the arrow here.
6. No fall, that is, drilling.
⑦ Stone edge-the corner of the stone.
This frontier poem describes a general who killed a tiger. It is based on the biography of General Li written by Sima Qian, a scholar in the Western Han Dynasty, and records the deeds of the famous Li Guang at that time. The original text is: "You went hunting widely and saw a stone in the grass. You killed it as a tiger. If you look at it, you will see a stone. "
The first two sentences of the poem describe what happened: in the middle of the night, the forest was dark, and suddenly the wind was blowing hard, and the grass was undulating by Joe; A white tiger fainted at the frogman landing place. At this moment, the general is flying through the forest. He was quick of eye and load, filled his bow and shot an arrow. ...
The result of the last two sentences is that the next morning, the general remembered what happened in the forest last night and came to the scene along the original road. He couldn't help being surprised: in the bright morning light, he clearly saw that he had shot a boulder instead of a tiger. Fear crouched there silently, and the white arrow plunged deep into the edge of the crevice! Please note that the place where the arrow enters is not a cave, a gap or a stone surface, but a narrow and sharp stone edge-what a great arm strength and martial arts it requires!
Someone wants to ask, why didn't the general kill the tiger until the next morning? The original story didn't tell me that it was a stone the next day! This is the poet's artistic treatment. First, it can show the general's confidence. It has always been very popular. Are you afraid it won't die or run this time? Second, it can increase the intuition of the image and make people see it more clearly. If you watch it at night, of course, you can find it is a misunderstanding, but it is difficult to achieve the vivid effect of the current picture.
Poetry pays the most attention to implication and suggestion. When we see the description of the arrow hitting the stone in the poem, we will naturally associate it with: What would it be like if it were a tiger? What happens if you shoot enemy soldiers and horses on the battlefield? As a result, the image of a general with strong martial arts and bravery stood in front of us.
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Border songs
Lulun
His golden arrow has eagle feathers on it, and his embroidered silk flag has a swallow-like tail.
A man stood up and gave a new order, and a thousand battalions roared.
translate
The general wore an arrow made of vulture feathers, and the dovetail embroidered flag fluttered in the wind.
Hold your head high, announce new orders, and thousands of soldiers will respond together.
To annotate ...
Vulture feather: Arrow tail feather.
Golden servant aunt: the name of an arrow.
Dovetail: The two corners of the flag are bifurcated, if it is dovetail.
Arc: logo name.
Independence: Jude's words hold water.
Yang Xinling: Yang's new instructions.
Make an appreciative comment
This poem is the first of Xia Sai's six songs. This poem describes the swearing-in scene when a mighty general conveys the new order. The response of 1,000 soldiers showed strong military capability, strict military discipline and confidence that everyone would win. When reading, it is inevitable to be conquered by this magnificent momentum.
Huiping
Yu Biyun's "A Brief Discussion on Poetic Environments of the Republic of China": Among the few twenty crosses, there is a view of military capacity in full swing.
About the author:
Lu Lun (748-800), the word Yunyan, was one of the top ten gifted scholars in the Tang Dynasty. He was born in Hepu (now Yongji County, Shanxi Province). Lu Jianci's Biography in Old Tang Dynasty says that Lu Jianci (the son of Lu Lun) was originally from Fanyang and later moved to Pu, which is not credible. Zhao Lin recorded three stories about his nephew Zhao Lu's hometown.