Friday, 21 June 2019

lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
In the dark woods, a gust in the grass—
The general draws his bow at night.
At dawn, they search for his white fletching:
The arrow pierced deep into stone.

塞下曲 首二
林暗草惊风,
将军夜引弓。
平明寻白羽,
没在石棱中。

This is based on an incident in the biography of Li Guang in Records of the Grand Historian, during a nighttime tiger hunt. The gust is not the result of the arrow, but what the general shot at.

---L.

About

Warning: contents contain line-breaks.

As language practice, I like to translate poetry. My current project is Chinese, with practice focused on Tang Dynasty poetry. Previously this was classical Japanese, most recently working through the Kokinshu anthology (archived here). Suggestions, corrections, and questions always welcome.

There's also original pomes in the journal archives.

April 2025

S M T W T F S
  12345
678910 1112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930   

Style Credit

Powered by Dreamwidth Studios
Page generated Wednesday, 7 January 2026 00:33

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags