Tang poem · seven-character quatrain唐诗 · 七言绝句

lǒng陇xī西xíng行sì四shǒu首·qí其èr二

chén陈táo陶Chen Tao · Tang唐

Song of Longxi, No. 2 of 4

shì誓sǎo扫xiōng匈nú奴bú不gù顾shēn身

wǔ五qiān千diāo貂jǐn锦sàng丧hú胡chén尘

kě可lián怜wú无dìng定hé河biān边gǔ骨

yóu犹shì是chūn春guī闺mèng梦lǐ里rén人

Underlined words have notes: tap one. The Pinyin button below shows or hides all pinyin. 一 and 不 are marked with the tone you actually say.字下有虚线的，点开有注释。下方的“拼音”按钮可以显示或隐藏全部拼音。“一”“不”标的是实际读出来的变调。

Line by line逐句翻译

誓扫匈奴不顾身The soldiers swore to wipe out the Xiongnu, with no care for their lives;将士们发誓要扫平匈奴，连性命都不顾，
五千貂锦丧胡尘five thousand of the finest troops fell in the dust of the northern lands.五千名精锐的战士，都死在了胡地的战场上。
可怜无定河边骨How sad: the bones lying by the Wuding River可叹那无定河边的一堆堆白骨，
犹是春闺梦里人are still the men their wives dream of in their spring rooms.还是家中妻子梦里盼着回来的人。

Words字词注释

誓扫匈奴shì sǎo xiōng nú: shì sǎo xiōng nú: swearing to wipe out the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu were a northern people of Han times; here the name stands for the Tang's enemies on the border.誓扫匈奴：发誓要扫平匈奴。匈奴是汉代北方的民族，这里借指唐朝边境上的敌人。
不顾身bú gù shēn: bù gù shēn: with no care for their own lives.不顾身：不顾惜自己的生命。
貂锦diāo jǐn: diāo jǐn: soldiers in sable furs and brocade robes, meaning the finest troops.貂锦：穿着貂皮衣服、锦缎战袍的士兵，指精锐的部队。
丧胡尘sàng hú chén: sàng hú chén: died in the dust of the battlefields in the land of the Hu, the northern peoples.丧胡尘：死在胡地的战场上。胡尘，胡地战场上扬起的尘土。
可怜kě lián: kě lián: how sad, how pitiful.可怜：可叹，让人难过。
无定河wú dìng hé: wú dìng hé: the Wuding River, a branch of the Yellow River in today's northern Shaanxi. Its fast, muddy water kept changing course, so it was called the "River Without a Fixed Course".无定河：黄河的一条支流，在今天陕西北部。因为水流急、泥沙多，河道常常改变，所以叫“无定河”。
犹是yóu shì: yóu shì: still is.犹是：还是，仍然是。
春闺chūn guī: chūn guī: a woman's room in spring; here, the wife at home waiting for her husband.春闺：春天的闺房，这里指在家盼望丈夫回来的妻子。

How to read it读音

丧sàng: Here it means "to lose one's life", read sàng.丧是“丧命、死去”的意思，读 sàng。

Background创作背景

"Song of Longxi" is an old folk-song title, often used for poems about frontier wars. Chen Tao wrote four; this is the second. In the later Tang there was fighting on the northwest border year after year. Many soldiers died, and their families did not even know. The exact year of the poem is not known. The poet borrows the Han wars against the Xiongnu to write about the pain that war brought to ordinary people in his own time.

《陇西行》是乐府旧题，常用来写边塞打仗的事。陈陶写了四首，这是第二首。唐朝后期，西北边境常年打仗，很多士兵死在战场上，家里人却还不知道。具体写作年份不清楚。诗人借汉朝打匈奴的故事，写的是唐代战争给普通人带来的痛苦。

The poet作者

Chen Tao was a poet of the late Tang; his exact dates are not known. He failed the top civil service exam and later lived as a recluse in the Western Hills of Hongzhou, near today's Nanchang in Jiangxi, reading and writing poetry. Not many of his poems survive. This one, thanks to its very moving last two lines, is his best known.

陈陶，晚唐诗人，生卒年不详。他考进士没有考中，后来隐居在洪州西山（今江西南昌附近），过着读书、写诗的生活。他的诗流传下来的不多，这首诗因为后两句特别动人，成了他最有名的作品。

The mood意境

The first two lines are bold and tragic: the soldiers swear to fight with no care for their lives, and five thousand of the best troops are all killed. Then the last two lines jump from the battlefield to home. By the river the bones have already turned white. But back home, the wife does not know her husband is dead. She still dreams of his return. On one side, cold white bones; on the other, a warm dream. Put together, the two pictures break the heart. The poet does not curse war. He simply sets these two things before us, and we see how cruel war is.

前两句写得很壮烈：士兵们发誓杀敌，连命都不要，五千精兵一下子全死在了战场上。后两句忽然从战场跳到了家里。河边的骨头已经白了，可是在家乡，妻子还不知道丈夫已经死了，还在梦里盼他回来。一边是冷冰冰的白骨，一边是暖暖的梦，两个画面放在一起，让人心里特别难过。诗人没有骂战争，只是把这两件事摆在我们面前，战争的残酷就全都看见了。