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095 沈佺期 雜詩 translation: Miscellaneous Poem, by Shen Quanqi

聞道黃龍戍 (Wéndào Huánglóng Shù)

This is a translation and annotation of the poem 雜詩 (Zá Shī), by the Tang dynasty poet 沈佺期 (also known as 雲卿). The poem is #95 in the collection [300 Tang Poems](/china/classical/300-tang- poems/” rel="contents “唐詩三百首”), and is also known by its first line: 聞道黃龍戍 (Wéndào Huánglóng Shù).

Shaanxi mountains

雜詩 Zá Shī [miscellaneous] [poem] Miscellaneous Poem

聞道黃龍戍， Wéndào Huánglóng shù, [hear] [say] [Yellow] [Dragon] [garrison] One hears of the Yellow Dragon garrison;

頻年不解兵。 pín nián bù jiě bīng. [repeat] [year] [not] [dissolve] [army] for many years they have not been granted leave.

可憐閨裡月， Kělián guī lǐ yuè, [can] [pity] [women's quarters] [in] [moon] Pitiful, the moonlight in a woman's bedroom;

長在漢家營。 zhǎng zài Hàn jiā yíng. [forever] [in] [Han] [family] [barracks] [her heart is] forever in the Han barracks.

少婦今春意， Shàofù jīn chūnyì, [little] [wife] [now] [spring] [thought] A young wife now thinks of love,

良人昨夜情。 liáng rén zuóyè qíng. [husband][] [yesterday] [evening] [emotion] the same feelings as her husband's last night.

誰能將旗鼓， Shéi néng jiāng qí gǔ, [who] [can] [lead] [flag] [drum] Who can lead the flags and drums,

一為取龍城？ yī wéi qǔ lóng chéng? [one] [action] [take] [Dragon] [City] to take the Dragon City in one strike?

If you notice a mistake or disagree with the translation, please comment below to improve this resource. You might want to have a read of this, as well.

Notes

闻道 is a Classical Chinese version of the modern 听说 (道 is often used to introduce speech in older texts). 黄龙 is Huanglong County in Shaanxi.

The third line refers to the spouses of the soldiers back home looking at the moon.

春 (Spring) appears in all sorts of Chinese euphemisms for sex, romance and love.

良人 is an archaic word for ‘husband’, literally ‘good person’.

Source: 杂诗·沈佺期 - 百度百科


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