Border Songs 1, Lu Lun (Tang Shi #256)

With golden arrow, condor-fletched,
And ’broidered banner, swallow-tailed,
Standing out, he gives the command—
A thousand barracks shout as one.

塞下曲 首一
鹫翎金仆姑，
燕尾绣蝥弧。
独立扬新令，
千营共一呼。

First of a four-poem series, either set or sung near a fort on the frontier (the 塞下 of the title is literally “under/beyond the fort(ress)/strategic position”). The arrow and banner are identified by names; I’ve instead translated the glosses of what kinds of things they are.

—L.