The Nomadic Flâneuse

Song of White Snow in Farewell to Secretary Wu Returning to the Capital

Cen Shen

The north wind sweeping the ground snapping the pallid grasses;

In Tartar’s sky an eight-month snow has come to pass.

As though a sudden spring gale rolled past overnight

Bringing thousands upon thousands of pear trees bloom white.

Spreads through pearled blinds, wets the silken screen;

The fox furs cold, the brocade quilts thin.

Hardly can the general have the horn bow drawn;

Too cold is the viceroy’s metal armour to put on.

Over the vast desert stacks a thousand feet of ice,

Gloomy clouds condense and drear for myriad miles.

In the head-quarters camp we drink to the homebound guest;

Play for him the tartar’s harp, pipa and barbarian’s flute.

Till the dusk is the blizzard falling down the camp gate,

In the blustering wind the red flag is too frozen to undulate.

At the east gate of Wheel Tower we bid good-bye;

On the road along Tianshan mountain snows piles high.

As the path winds around the pass the passenger disappears,

Leaving behind on the snow only the horse-hoof prints.

白雪歌送武判官归京

岑参

北风卷地白草折，胡天八月即飞雪。

忽如一夜春风来，千树万树梨花开。

散入珠帘湿罗幕，狐裘不暖锦衾薄。

将军角弓不得控，都护铁衣冷难着。

瀚海阑干百丈冰，愁云惨淡万里凝。

中军置酒饮归客，胡琴琵琶与羌笛。

纷纷暮雪下辕门，风掣红旗冻不翻。

轮台东门送君去，去时雪满天山路。

山回路转不见君，雪上空留马行处。

岑參 Cen Shen (715 – 770) was a Tang Dynasty scholar and veteran, he wrote the Song of White Snow when he was on military service to Central Asia. He is known for his Frontier Poetry. Love the way he evokes life in the wilderness with both nostalgia and optimism.