古意 (李頎)

Ancient meaning (Li Qi)

A man goes on long campaigns,

a youth from You and Yan, born to the saddle.

He wagers victory beneath his horse's hooves,

and has always held his seven-foot body light in worth.

When he kills, none dare stand before him,

his beard bristles out like a hedgehog's spines.

Yellow clouds drift above the Long plateau, white snow flies below,

and he cannot return home until he has repaid his lord's favor.

A young wife in Liaodong, fifteen years old,

well versed in playing the pipa and skilled in song and dance.

Now she plays a Qiang flute tune of the frontier passes,

and brings the tears of all three armies down like rain.