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Liangzhou Lyric, Wang Han (Tang Shi #268)
Tuesday, 16 July 2019 07:59A fine grape wine inside a glowing cup of jade—
I want a drink and—quickly now!—a pipa song.
Don’t laugh if I drop drunk upon the battlefield—
Since days of old, how many men return from war?
凉州词
葡萄美酒夜光杯，
欲饮琵琶马上催。
醉卧沙场君莫笑，
古来征战几人回。
Liangzhou is in Gansu by the Gobi desert, on the Silk Road through the Hexi Corridor—and this is a frontier soldier song. To get this version, I had to first let the Kiplingesque one out:
A fine grape wine in a glowing cup of fine white jade—
I want a drink and a pipa song before I gallop away.
If I lie down drunk in this sandy place, my lords, now please don’t laugh—
Since ancient times, when men have campaigned, how many of them returned?
沙场 (shāchǎng) is literally “sand place” but today usually understood as “battlefield” —given the desert location, I went with the latter in the Kiplingesque. The pipa is a lute-like instrument.
---L.
I want a drink and—quickly now!—a pipa song.
Don’t laugh if I drop drunk upon the battlefield—
Since days of old, how many men return from war?
凉州词
葡萄美酒夜光杯，
欲饮琵琶马上催。
醉卧沙场君莫笑，
古来征战几人回。
Liangzhou is in Gansu by the Gobi desert, on the Silk Road through the Hexi Corridor—and this is a frontier soldier song. To get this version, I had to first let the Kiplingesque one out:
A fine grape wine in a glowing cup of fine white jade—
I want a drink and a pipa song before I gallop away.
If I lie down drunk in this sandy place, my lords, now please don’t laugh—
Since ancient times, when men have campaigned, how many of them returned?
沙场 (shāchǎng) is literally “sand place” but today usually understood as “battlefield” —given the desert location, I went with the latter in the Kiplingesque. The pipa is a lute-like instrument.
---L.