Song of White Snow: Seeing Off Judge Wu to the Capital
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
胡天八月即飞雪。
忽如一夜春风来，
千树万树梨花开。
散入珠帘湿罗幕，
狐裘不暖锦衾薄。
将军角弓不得控，
都护铁衣冷难着。
瀚海阑干百丈冰，
愁云惨淡万里凝。
中军置酒饮归客，
胡琴琵琶与羌笛。
纷纷暮雪下辕门，
风掣红旗冻不翻。
轮台东门送君去，
去时雪满天山路。
山回路转不见君，
雪上空留马行处。
English translation
The north wind sweeps the ground and snaps the white grass, in the Tartar sky by the eighth month the snow already flies.
Suddenly, as if a night of spring wind had come, a thousand trees, ten thousand trees break into pear blossom.
It drifts through the pearly blind and wets the silken hangings, the fox fur is not warm, the brocade quilt is thin.
The general cannot draw his horn-backed bow, the commander's iron mail is too cold to put on.
Across the vast desert the ice spreads a hundred fathoms, dismal clouds, gray and somber, congeal for ten thousand li.
In the central tent wine is set for the homegoing guest, with Tartar fiddles, pipas, and Qiang flutes.
Thickly the evening snow falls at the camp gate, the wind tugs the red banner; frozen, it will not flutter.
At the east gate of Luntai I see you off, you go where snow has filled the road to the Heavenly Mountains.
The mountain turns, the road bends, and you are seen no more, only the tracks of your horse left behind in the snow.
Meaning
The north wind sweeps the earth and snaps the white grass; in the eighth month, over the northern frontier already the great snow falls.
As if in a single night a spring breeze had come, upon the trees it is as though pear blossoms vied in opening.
The snowflakes fly in through the pearl blind and wet the silken hangings; the fox fur gives no warmth, and even beneath the brocade quilt one feels the cold.
The generals and their men are too numb to draw their bows, and their armour is frozen too stiff to put on.
Over the boundless desert thick ice has formed; across the whole sky gather sombre, mournful clouds.
In the commander's tent wine is set out to speed the parting guest, and Hu fiddles, pipas and Qiang flutes play together to add to the merriment.
At dusk before the camp gate the snow still falls without ceasing; the red banner is frozen stiff, and the wind cannot stir it.
Outside the east gate of Luntai we see you off, returning to the capital; when you departed, the snow had covered all the road over the Tianshan Mountains.
The mountain road winds away and you are lost to sight; in the snow only a line of hoofprints remains.
Background
Read the background
Cen Shen reached Beiting at the turn of summer and autumn in 754 (the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang) and journeyed east in the late spring and early summer of 757 (the second year of the Zhide era of Emperor Suzong). The year 754 marked his second journey beyond the frontier, serving as administrative secretary to Feng Changqing, the military governor of Anxi and Beiting; Secretary Wu was his predecessor in that office, and the poet wrote this poem at Luntai to see him off on his return to the capital (the Tang capital, Chang'an).