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