Watching the hunt
Tang Dynasty: Wang Wei
The wind is strong and the horns are sounding, and the general is hunting in Weicheng.
The grass is dry and the hawk's eyes are weak, and the snow is gone and the horse's hooves are light.
Suddenly passed by Xinfeng City and returned to Xiliu Camp.
Looking back at the place where the eagle was shot, the clouds were flat at dusk for thousands of miles.
Translation:
In the sound of strong wind and the sound of horns and bows, the general hunts on the outskirts of Weicheng.
As the autumn grass withers and turns yellow, the eagle's eyes become sharper; as the ice and snow melt, the horse's hooves become particularly brisk.
We passed Xinfeng City in a blink of an eye, and soon returned to Xiliu Camp.
Looking back at the Eagle Shooting Wilderness, thousands of miles of dusk clouds spread out to the horizon.
This poem is an early work by Wang Wei. It is a poem about a general hunting. It is written passionately, boldly and powerfully. The whole poem is divided into two parts. The first four sentences are the first part, describing the process of hunting; the last four sentences describe the scene of the general collecting hunting and returning to camp in the evening.
About the author:
Wang Wei (701-761, some say 699-761), named Mojie, Han nationality, was born in Puzhou, Hedong (now Yuncheng, Shanxi) , whose ancestral home is Qi County, Shanxi Province, is a poet of the Tang Dynasty and is known as the "Poetry Buddha". Su Shi commented on him: "When you taste Mojie's poems, there are paintings in the poems; when you look at Mojie's paintings, there are poems in the paintings." In the ninth year of Kaiyuan (721), he was promoted to Jinshi, Tai Lecheng. Wang Wei is a representative poet of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. He has more than 400 poems in existence today. His important poems include "Lovesickness" and "Dwelling in the Mountains in the Twilight of Autumn". Wang Wei was proficient in Buddhism and was greatly influenced by Zen Buddhism. There is a Buddhist "Vimalakīrti Sutra", which is the origin of Wang Wei's name and name. Wang Wei is famous for his poetry, calligraphy and painting. He is very versatile and proficient in music. Together with Meng Haoran, they are collectively known as "Wang Meng".
Reference materials
Ancient poetry website: http://so.gushiwen.org/view_5647.aspx