The woods are black and a wind assails the grasses,
Yet the general tries night archery --
And next morning he finds his white-plumed arrow
Pointed deep in the hard rock.
Original Poem:
「塞下曲 · 其二」
卢纶
林暗草惊风， 将军夜引弓。
平明寻白羽， 没在石棱中。
Interpretation:
This is the second poem of the group, which is about the general hunting at night, seeing the wind blowing in the deep woods, thinking that it is a tiger, so he bent his bow and shot fiercely. At dawn, the arrow went into a stone. Through this episode, the general’s bravery is shown.
The first sentence explains that the place where the general hunts at night is a dark and deep forest. At that time, it was already late in the day, and a gust of wind blew, and the grass and trees were covered with it. This not only explains the time and place, but also creates an atmosphere. Right Beiping is a tiger area, the deep forest is a place where tigers come and go, and tigers mostly move out after dusk, only a “shock” word, people naturally associate it with a tiger, rendering a tense atmosphere, but also for the following general “draw the bow” as a prelude. Not only because the poem should rhyme, but also because “lead” is the preparation of “hair”, this writing shows that the general’s movements are agile, strong and calm.
The last two lines are about a miracle. The next day, the general searched for prey, found that the arrow is not a tiger, but squatting stone, people read the first and surprised, and then contempt. The original arrow shaft tail with white feather arrow, even arrow deep stone. This writing not only has time, scene changes, and more twists and turns, at the same time rich in drama.
This poem has a concise narrative. It borrows the story of Li Guang, the flying general of Han Dynasty, to show the bravery of the commander in chief in the army.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Lu Lun (卢纶), 748 – 798 A.D., was a native of Yongji, Shanxi Province, and was one of the “Ten Scholarly Men of the Dali Dynasty”. Lu Lun was a judge of the Marshal’s Office in Hezhong, and he served as the inspector of the Ministry of Revenue. His poems were more eloquent and liberal, with many works of farewells and rewards, as well as works reflecting the life of soldiers. Five volumes of his poems are recorded in Quan Tang Shi (All Tang Poems).
