Remembering My Brothers on a Moonlit Night
The garrison drum halts people on the road;
One wild goose calls in the frontier autumn.
From tonight the dew is white;
The moon of home seems brightest.
My brothers have all been scattered;
There is no home from which to ask who lives or dies.
Letters sent so often fail to arrive—
How much more so while the fighting has not ceased.
Notes
Shedi is a modest term for one’s younger brothers. The garrison drum and interrupted road evoke wartime conditions. White dew suggests the seasonal term Bailu. Scattered family members cannot easily learn one another’s fate.
Meaning
Garrison drums and a goose call lead the poet to remember scattered brothers, undelivered letters and continuing war.
Appreciation
Drums, an interrupted road and a goose call establish a wartime autumn night.
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White dew marks the season; the brighter moon of home expresses feeling rather than a measurement.
Scattered brothers turn homesickness into concern for specific family members.
Undelivered letters and continuing war explain why news is so difficult to obtain.
About the poet
Du Fu (712–770), courtesy name Zimei, was a major Tang poet.
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His poetry records personal experience and the upheaval of his age, including the An Lushan rebellion.
He lived in Kuizhou in later years; his works include Spring View and Ascending the Heights.