Facing Snow
Du Fu


Battle cry many new ghosts
Worry murmur alone old man
Disorder cloud low weak dusk
Strong snow dance return wind
Gourd ladle discard cup without green
Stove remain fire like red
Many place news broken
Worry sit straight book empty
After the battle, many new ghosts cry,
The solitary old man murmurs in his grief.
Ragged low cloud thins the light of dusk,
Thick snow dances back and forth in the wind.
The wine ladle's cast aside, the cup not green,
The stove still looks as if a fiery red.
To many places, communications are broken,
I sit, but cannot read my books for grief.


View Chinese text in traditional characters.

Alternative translation by Kenneth Rexroth.
Other Chinese poems about Age and War.