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As autumn breezes blow through the mountain range,
A flute’s mournful tune doth echo and change.
With harmony in tune, the wind doth sing,
And moonlit passes make the mountains ring.
With flute in hand, a lone horseman rides,
Through darkest night, his thoughts northward guides.
A melody of Wu-Ling brings to mind,
A campaign fought, in the south to find.
But memories of home, now distant and cold,
Bring sorrow to the heart, as willows fold.
In hard times, growth is hard to sustain,
Leaving nothing but heartache and pain.
This poem was written about the first year of Zongdali in the Tang Dynasty (766) when Du Fu moved from Kuizhou to live in the West Pavilion. Huang He’s note: Liang Quandao compiled it in the first year of the Dali. According to the poem, “Hu Qi can go north in the middle of the night,” which refers to Tubo. “Tongjian”: In the first year of Yongtai, Tubo and Huihe entered the bandits, Ziyi threw his guns into the army without armor, and the chiefs of Huihe all dismounted and worshiped Luo, and then made a peace treaty. When Tubo heard about it, he led his troops away at night. That is the matter.
吹笛秋山風月清，
誰家巧作斷腸聲？
風飄律呂相和切，
月傍關山幾處明？
胡騎中宵堪北走，
武陵一曲想南征。
故園楊柳今搖落，
何得愁中卻盡生？
Du Fu (February 12, 712-770), courtesy name Zimei, nicknamed Shaoling Yelao, No. 1 Duling Yeke and Duling Buyi, was a realist poet in the Tang Dynasty. His works are famous for their grand social realism. The Du Fu family is a branch of the Jingzhao Du family. During the Tang Dynasty, the Jingzhao Du family called themselves Duling people. He used to be Zuo Shiyi and Wailang, a member of the Ministry of Inspection and Engineering, and later lived in seclusion in Chengdu Thatched Cottage, known as Du Suyi, Du Gongbu, Du Shaoling and Du Thatched Cottage in the world.
Image: MidJourney/DALL-E 2