This poem was written by Du Fu who is considered to be one of China’s greatest poets of the Tang dynasty.
Du Fu was born to a minor scholar-official in Henan Province. His mother died while he was young, and an aunt helped raised him.
Du Fu is often described as a poet-historian, and his works convey the emotional impact and import of political and social issues and register a range of private concerns, trials, and dramas. His poems are remarkable for their range of moods as well as contents.
Alan and I worked on the translation together on this piece. You may read more of Alan’s translation work on Chinese, Spanish poetry, own poetry and essays here.
对雪
战哭多新鬼
愁吟独老翁
乱云低薄暮
急雪舞回风
瓢弃樽无绿
炉存火似红
数州消息断
愁坐正书空
After the battle, we mourn for the dead;
I’m old and alone, grief filling my head.
Dark, ominous clouds are filtering down;
The cold wind and snow are swirling around.
There is no wine left in the calabash bowl,
But the stove is still hot from the smoldering coal.
The news cannot reach us from our dearest kin;
I sit down to write, but I cannot begin.
Flicker of Thoughts 
Wow that is incredible! I can’t imagine what a challenge it must be to translate a poem and make it rhyme without changing the content. I’m impressed
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Thanks Rexis. Credit to Alan who has a telant to achieve so.
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Great job Cassa. I really like this one! 😎
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Thank you J! 😊
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It is beautiful! ♥♥
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Glad you like it 💚
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This is really cool. Love when you post these translated poems. And I like the history of the introduction.
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It was both a challenge and horror to work with Alan. I love classic Chinese poetry but lack of in depth knowledge so I had to do some research to make it right.
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Well, it sure seems to have worked out. You did well!
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