There once was a man, sent on military missions,
A wanderer, from youth, on the Yu and Yen frontiers.
Under the horses' hoofs he would meet his foes
And, recklessly risking his seven-foot body,
Would slay whoever dared confront
Those moustaches that bristled like porcupine-quills.
…There were dark clouds below the hills, there were white clouds above them,
But before a man has served full time, how can he go back?
In eastern Liao a girl was waiting, a girl of fifteen years,
Deft with a guitar, expert in dance and song.
…She seems to be fluting, even now, a reed-song of home,
Filling every soldier's eyes with homesick tears.
Original Poem:
「古意」
李颀
男儿事长征，少小幽燕客。
赌胜马蹄下，由来轻七尺。
杀人莫敢前，须如猬毛磔。
黄云陇底白云飞，未得报恩不能归。
辽东小妇年十五，惯弹琵琶解歌舞。
今为羌笛出塞声，使我三军泪如雨。
Interpretation:
This is a poem on the subject of the border, and the theme of the poem obviously has two levels, one is to glorify the bravery of the young man, and the other is to express the nostalgia of the young man. The first three lines are about the brave and courageous qualities of the young warrior. The word “long march” suggests being far away from home. The word “young” implies that there are frequent battles and not enough soldiers, so underage men are enlisted. In the Tang Dynasty, the term “Youyan” refers to the border fortress where conditions were difficult.
The events and environment provided by the poem are the prologue to the sadness, but the poem does not write that directly, and then begins to write the twist, in the bitter cold environment, these young people have an awesome bravery and courageous qualities. They are able to win the battle by throwing money at the horses, and they have no regard for money or life.
In the middle it is said that their bravery on the battlefield is invincible, the teenager kills the enemy with such a heroic spirit that the enemy does not dare to lean forward, he is like a hedgehog all over the body full of terrible thorns, sharp and unparalleled. It is a wonderful metaphor to compare the invisible bravery of the warrior to the visible sharpness.
The last is the twist of the whole poem, also the twist of the first theme to the second theme, which has two meanings, one is to point out that the motivation for the young man to ride and gallop at the border and fight in the customs is actually the repayment of the court’s favour and not passive. The second is that the teenager has homesickness. The last two couplets describe the second level of theme. In the fifth couplet, the sound of the flute of the songstresses who are good at singing and dancing in the border places becomes an opportunity for the young man to miss his hometown. The songstresses and the songs are meant to be fun, but the result is that the warrior’s homesickness is so great that he is in grief.
