Hearing a Flute as it Gets Dark in Shouxiang City, Li Yi (Tang Shi #279)

[lnhammer]

In front of Huile Peak, the sand seems snow;
Outside Shouxiang, the moonlight looks like frost.
I don’t know where the reed pipe’s being blown,
But soldiers gaze all night at far-off homes.

夜上受降城闻笛
回乐峰前沙似雪，
受降城外月如霜。
不知何处吹芦管，
一夜征人尽望乡。

Shouxiang and Huile are near the border of Ningxia and Inner Mongolia—so another frontier post (this one a ways west of #277; I think I want to plot all these locations on a map). Interestingly, the poet doesn’t include himself as one of the homesick soldiers, although he did indeed serve here as part of his military career.

—L.

Comments

[sovay]

I don’t know where the reed pipe’s being blown,
But soldiers gaze all night at far-off homes.

That's great. Also, some tropes never die, probably because they are things people really do.

[lnhammer]

That's my theory.

[sartorias]

Another one with strong sensories.

[lnhammer]

Oh yeah. There's an entire scene from a drama here. All that's missing is a dice game on the side.