Song Upon a Strategic Border Stronghold
塞 上 曲
老 矣 犹 思 万 里 行
翩 然 上 马 始 身 轻。
玉 关 去 路 心 如 铁
抱 酒 何 妨 听 渭 城！
Sai Shang Qu
Lao yi you si wan li xing
Pian ran shang ma shi shen qing.
Yu guan qu lu xin ru tie
Bao jiu he fang ting wei cheng!
Song Upon a Strategic Border Stronghold
Thinking about the olden days traveling long distances of many miles
Life was easy riding swiftly upon my horse.
My heart-mind remembers iron weapon making time at this mountain pass
Hold a cup of wine and listen to the Yanguan music?
Notes:
Yanguan music: Yanguan is an important, strategic, and frontier mountain pass in Gansu Province, located in the far west of China. It became more famous as the inspiration for sad departure poems because it was referenced in a famous poem by Wang Wei called “Send Off Yuan the Second, Going As An Envoy to An Xi”. This poem can also be found on this website. It was posted in February 2021.