Ancient Air
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
少小幽燕客。
赌胜马蹄下，
由来轻七尺。
杀人莫敢前，
须如猬毛磔。
黄云陇底白云飞，
未得报恩不得归。
辽东小妇年十五，
惯弹琵琶解歌舞。
今为羌笛出塞声，
使我三军泪如雨。
English translation
A man's business is the distant campaign, from boyhood a traveler of You and Yan.
He wagers on victory beneath his horse's hooves, and has always made light of his seven-foot frame.
He kills, and none dares come before him, his beard bristling like a hedgehog's quills.
Yellow clouds beneath the ridge, white clouds flying, until he has repaid his debt of gratitude he will not go home.
A young wife of Liaodong, fifteen years old, skilled at the pipa, versed in song and dance.
Now with a Qiang flute she plays an air beyond the frontier, and makes three armies' men weep as if with rain.
Meaning
A man should hold the affairs of the state above all, and march far to war; from boyhood he ranges far and wide through You and Yan.
He is forever testing himself against others on horseback, and never sets store by his seven-foot body.
He fights so furiously that none dares come near him; his bearing is proud and his beard bristles like a hedgehog's spines.
The yellow sand of Long flies and white clouds drift above; the emperor's grace is unrepaid, how can he lightly speak of returning home?
The young wife of Liaodong is but fifteen; she is skilled upon the pipa and good at song and dance.
Today a Qiang flute plays an air of going beyond the frontier, and it moves the whole army to tears like rain.