Lament for a Prince
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
夜飞延秋门上呼。
又向人家啄大屋，
屋底达官走避胡。
金鞭断折九马死，
骨肉不得同驰驱。
腰下宝玦青珊瑚，
可怜王孙泣路隅。
问之不肯道姓名，
但道困苦乞为奴。
已经百日窜荆棘，
身上无有完肌肤。
高帝子孙尽隆准，
龙种自与常人殊。
豺狼在邑龙在野，
王孙善保千金躯。
不敢长语临交衢，
且为王孙立斯须。
昨夜东风吹血腥，
东来橐驼满旧都。
朔方健儿好身手，
昔何勇锐今何愚。
窃闻天子已传位，
圣德北服南单于。
花门剺面请雪耻，
慎勿出口他人狙。
哀哉王孙慎勿疏，
五陵佳气无时无。
English translation
Atop the walls of Chang'an, a white-headed crow; at night it flies to Yanqiu Gate and calls.
Then it pecks at the great houses; within, the high officials flee the Hu.
The golden whip snapped, the nine horses died; kinsmen could not ride together.
At his waist a precious ring of jade, of blue coral — pitiful, the prince weeps in a corner of the road.
Asked, he will not give his name, but only says he is in want and begs to be made a slave.
Already for a hundred days he has crept among the thorns; on his body there is no whole patch of skin.
The sons of the High Emperor all have high-bridged noses; the seed of the dragon differs from common men.
Jackals are in the city, the dragon in the wild — prince, take good care of your thousand-gold body.
I dare not speak long here at the crossroads, yet I will stand with you a moment.
Last night the east wind blew a stench of blood; from the east, camels fill the old capital.
The stout fellows of Shuofang are good men at arms — once so brave and keen, now how witless!
I have heard it whispered that the Son of Heaven has passed on the throne; his holy virtue has brought the southern Chanyu to submit.
The men of Huamen gash their faces and beg to wash away the shame — take care, do not speak of it, others are watching.
Alas, prince, be watchful, be not careless: the fair aura over the five tombs will never fail.
Meaning
On the walls of Chang'an there stands a white-headed crow;
at nightfall it still flies in at Yanqiu Gate, crying caw, caw.
This ill-omened bird pecks again and again at the mansions of the great;
frightened, the high officials flee their homes to escape the Hu.
The emperor fled in haste, snapping his golden whip and wearing out his nine horses;
the imperial kinsmen had no time to ride along with him.
There is a young man with a jade pendant and coral at his waist;
pitiful, he weeps by the roadside until his voice is hoarse.
Asked a thousand times, he still will not tell his name;
he only says his life is bitter and begs someone to take him as a slave.
For more than a hundred days he has been skulking beneath the thorn brakes;
no patch of his skin is whole, his body all cuts and scars.
The descendants of the High Ancestor mostly have high, straight noses;
the seed of the dragon, set beside common folk in cloth, is naturally nobler.
Background
Read the background
This poem was written in the second year after the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion. On the ninth day of the sixth month of 756 (the fifteenth year of the Tianbao era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang), Tongguan Pass fell; on the thirteenth, Emperor Xuanzong fled to Shu with only Precious Consort Yang and a few of her sisters, while the rest of the consorts, imperial grandsons, and princesses had no time to escape. In the seventh month, An Lushan's general Sun Xiaozhe took Chang'an and killed in succession more than a hundred persons, beginning with Grand Princess Huo. This poem was written at precisely that time.