A wanderer hears drums portending battle.
By the first call of autumn from a wildgoose at the border,
He knows that the dews tonight will be frost.
...How much brighter the moonlight is at home!
O my brothers, lost and scattered,
What is life to me without you?
Yet if missives in time of peace go wrong --
What can I hope for during war?
Original Poem:
「月夜忆舍弟」
杜甫
戍鼓断人行， 秋边一雁声。
露从今夜白， 月是故乡明。
有弟皆分散， 无家问死生。
寄书长不达， 况乃未休兵。
Interpretation:
In 759 A.D., Bianzhou, Luoyang, Shandong and Henan were in the midst of war, and several of Du Fu's younger brothers fled and were separated from each other, separated by the war, and without any news, which aroused his endless worries and longing. This poem is the true expression of such thoughts and feelings.
The first two lines: the sound of the drums on the garrison building cuts off the human line, and the lonely geese wail at the border on the autumn night.
Write wartime border in the autumn desolate situation. At this time, Shi Siming's rebels invaded the north and south of the Yellow River, the southwestern Tubo invaded from time to time, and the war in Qinzhou was tense. The sound of the garrison drums sounded, the night ban was imposed, and pedestrian traffic was cut off, which is what I saw. Then I wrote that I heard the sound of a lonely goose, the atmosphere is even more desolate.
The third and fourth sentences: from tonight into the white dew festival, the moon is still the hometown of the brightest.
Write the feeling of homesickness. In the night of the White Dew Festival, the poet night deep and long standing, frost and heavy dew, looking at the moon and homesickness, the hometown of the moon color must be more clear and bright. This sense of illusion highlights his strong feelings of homesickness.
Fifth, six sentences: although there are brothers but are separated to go to one side, the home does not exist, each other have no way to know the news of life and death.
Dufu five brothers, at this time Dufu side only little brother Du Zhan, the remaining three scattered in Henan, Shandong, is the war zone, brothers scattered, each side of the sky. The family is no longer in existence, life and death are hard to predict, it is heartbreaking. This couplet summarizes the Anshi Rebellion in the majority of the people suffered from the suffering, the separation of flesh and blood of the painful encounter.
The last two lines: sent to the city of Luoyang letters always can not be delivered, not to mention the frequent war has not stopped.
In the last two lines, the letter sent to Luoyang City can never be delivered, not to mention the frequent wars have not yet stopped. Brothers are separated, often send letters can not be reached, not to mention the frequent wars, life and death, it is even more difficult to have news of flesh and blood.
The whole poem is simple and natural, the words come out of the mouth, kind and touching. Inadvertently, the levels are well organized, and the beginning and the end correspond to each other.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Du Fu (杜甫), 712 - 770 AD, was a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, known as the "Sage of Poetry". Born into a declining bureaucratic family, Du Fu had a rough life, and his turbulent and dislocated life made him keenly aware of the plight of the masses. Therefore, his poems were always closely related to the current affairs, reflecting the social life of that era in a more comprehensive way, with profound thoughts and a broad realm. In his poetic art, he was able to combine many styles, forming a unique style of "profound and thick", and becoming a great realist poet in the history of China.
