History & Politics
Under a Border-Fortress
Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu (1929) · From The Jade Mountain (1929)
Drink, my horse, while we cross the autumn water! —
The stream is cold and the wind like a sword,
As we watch against the sunset on the sandy plain,
Far, far away, shadowy Ling-t'ao.
Old battles, waged by those long walls,
Once were proud on all men's tongues.
But antiquity now is a yellow dust,
Confusing in the grasses its ruins and white bones.
Codex Note
Written to Music
Cite this poem
MLA
Ch’ang-ling, Wang. “Under a Border-Fortress.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wang-chang-ling/13/.
Chicago
Ch’ang-ling, Wang. “Under a Border-Fortress.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wang-chang-ling/13/.
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