95. A Miscellaneous Poem

A poem by Shen Quanqi, translated by Hyun Woo Kim

I heard them say, serving at Huanglong,

The soldiers haven’t been discharged, year after year.

How poor is the Moon within the women’s quarter,

Having been long in the camp of the House of Han!

The young wife has expectations this spring;

The husband had feelings last night.

Who could lead the flags and drums

To capture Long Castle at once?

「雜詩」

聞道黃龍戍

頻年不解兵

可憐閨裡月

長在漢家營

少婦今春意

良人昨夜情

誰能將旗鼓

一為取龍城

From Hyun Woo:

At the end of the year, we have a lovely short poem today. The content of the poem is quite simple. The war does not cease, and the soldier and his wife miss each other. However, how sweet and melancholic are the third and fourth lines! “Moon within the women’s quarter” must mean that the “young wife” is looking at the Moon from her bedroom. It feels as if the same Moon, which her husband must have been looking at from his camp, had come to visit her. It is now in her bedroom, but it stayed so “long in the camp of the House of Han”. This is much more poignant than plainly writing something like ‘the wife pities her husband for serving in the army for so long.’ The contrast between the wife and the husband in the following lines, where they are separated but also connected, is very touching as well.

I am working on this newsletter in advance, but by the time it gets sent out, I will most likely be in Changchun, China, unless something unexpected happens. The name of the city, Changchun, literally means ‘long spring’. I have never been to Changchun before. It somehow felt fitting that I should see the New Year in a strange city with such a name. After all, there must be a reason the Chinese call their traditional New Year’s Festival Chunjie, ‘Spring Festival’, despite the bitter cold.

So, happy New Year. I will be thinking about you in Changchun, hoping that a long spring will pay you a visit on my behalf.

P.S. If you want to receive a Classical Chinese poetry postcard in January, today is your last day to upgrade your subscription!

If you enjoyed my work, you can buy me a cup of tea. I am not a coffee person, by the way.