A Little Tu Fu

     Here's an anti-war lament by Tu Fu to think about:

Moonlit Night Thinking of My Brothers

Warning drums have ended all travel.
A lone goose cries across autumn
Borderlands.  White Dew begins tonight,
This bright moon bright there, over

My old village.  My scattered brothers -
And no home to ask "Are they alive or dead?"
Letters never arrive.  War comes
And goes - then comes like this again.

     I imagine many Iraqis with precisely these thoughts...

Comments

[Brendan]

Du Fu had a great anti-war poem written in the 乐府 ballad style, called 兵车行 "The Ballad of the Army Carts." I'm working on a verse translation of it now, actually. Vikram Seth had a nice verse rendition of it, and David Hawkes has an excellent prose explication as well.