李颀

　　古从军行

　　白日登山望烽火， 黄昏饮马傍交河。

　　行人刁斗风沙暗， 公主琵琶幽怨多。

　　野云万里无城郭， 雨雪纷纷连大漠。

　　胡雁哀鸣夜夜飞， 胡儿眼泪双双落。

　　闻道玉门犹被遮， 应将性命逐轻车。

　　年年战骨埋荒外， 空见葡萄入汉家。

　　Folk-song-styled-verse

　　Li Qi

　　AN OLD WAR-SONG

　　Through the bright day up the mountain, we scan the sky for a war-torch；

　　At yellow dusk we water our horses in the boundaryriver；

　　And when the throb¹ of watch-drums hangs in the sandy wind,

　　We hear the guitar of the Chinese Princess telling her endless woe……

　　Three thousand miles without a town, nothing but camps,

　　Till the heavy sky joins the wide desert in snow.

　　With their plaintive² calls, barbarian³ wildgeese fly from night to night,

　　And children of the Tartars have many tears to shed；

　　But we hear that the Jade⁴ Pass is still under siege,

　　And soon we stake our lives upon our light warchariots.

　　Each year we bury in the desert bones unnumbered,

　　Yet we only watch for grape-vines coming into China.