The Temple of Su Wu
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
古祠高树两茫然。
云边雁断胡天月，
陇上羊归塞草烟。
回日楼台非甲帐，
去时冠剑是丁年。
茂陵不见封侯印，
空向秋波哭逝川。
English translation
Su Wu's spirit melted away before the Han envoy, the ancient shrine and the tall trees are both dim with age.
Beyond the clouds the wild goose is lost, the moon in the Tartar sky, upon the ridge the sheep come home, smoke over the frontier grass.
The towers he came back to were not the tents he left, the cap and sword he departed with were those of his manhood's prime.
At Maoling he never saw the seal of a marquis, in vain he weeps toward the autumn waves and the river that flows away.
Meaning
When Su Wu first met the envoy of Han, grief and joy mingled and a thousand feelings stirred;
but now the ancient shrine and its tall trees stand solemn and still, remote and dim with age.
Detained beside the Northern Sea, all letters were cut off; above him the sky of Hu and its bright moon,
herding sheep on the waste hills he came back, when dusk smoke already hung over the boundless steppe.
He returned to court and audience; the towers stood as before, but the tent of state had left no trace;
sent forth upon his mission with his cap and sword at his girdle, he was then in the pride and vigour of his prime.
He was ennobled and given rank and looked back towards Maoling, where lord and minister could meet no more;
in vain he faces the autumn waters and mourns the late emperor, grieving for the years now gone.
Background
Read the background
Su Wu is a hero famous in history for his steadfast integrity. In 100 BC, the first year of the Tianhan era of Emperor Wu, he went as envoy to the Xiongnu and was detained. The Xiongnu repeatedly pressed him to surrender, but he remained unyielding. He was later banished to the shores of the North Sea to herd sheep, and did not return to the Han court until 81 BC, the sixth year of the Shiyuan era of Emperor Zhao — nineteen years in all. This poem is the author's tribute composed after visiting the Temple of Su Wu.