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thermal theme was presented early and then sub-thematically amplified thereafter:
君 不 见 走 马 川 行 雪 海 边
平 沙 莽 莽 黄 入 天
轮 台 九 月 风 夜 吼
一 川 碎 石 大 如 斗
随 风 满 地 石 乱 走
Have you not seen Running Horse River on the banks of
the sea of snow?
Level sands vast and wide all entering the yellow sky.
Luntai in the ninth month winds at night howl,
A river of broken rocks big as dippers
Follow the winds covering the ground, rocks
tumble helter-skelter.
(“Ballad of Running Horse River”, lines 1-5)
After first focalizing Running Horse river, the breadth of the desert, and the overarching yellow sky at a
distance in the first couplet, the poet-narrator then contracts his focus in order to zoom in on the active
existent of the landscape, namely the winds and tumbling stones of the already kinetically named
Running Horse river. In the second tercet, with the smoke and dust of Jin mountain signifying enemy
movements toward which general Feng sets off to confront with his military forces, the setting is again
focalized from a distance:
匈 奴 草 黄 马 正 肥
金 山 西 见 烟 尘 飞
汉 家 大 将 西 出 师
Xiongnu grasses yellow, horses well fed and sturdy;
West of Jin mountain one sees smoke and dust flying,
The general of the House of Han sets off west with
his army.
(“Ballad of Running Horse River”, lines 6-8)
Spatial coordinates then shift from distance to nearness with the focalization of the general's armour,
the army's weapons, and faces in the third tercet:
将 军 金 甲 夜 不 脱
半 夜 军 行 戈 相 拨
风 头 如 刀 面 如 割
The general does not remove his coat of armour at night,
The army sets out at midnight, halberds rub against
each other,
The crest of winds like knives; faces seem sliced.
(“Ballad of Running Horse River”, lines 9-11)