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241
临 洮 客 舍 留 别 祁 四
Parting From Qi Le at Lintao 58 Guesthouse
无 事 向 边 外
No urgent matters here beyond the frontier,
至 今 仍 不 归
I have so far yet to return.
三 年 绝 乡 信
Three years without letters from home,
六 月 未 春 衣 In the sixth month and no Spring clothes to wear. 59
客 舍 洮 水 聒
At the guesthouse the waters of the Tao river 60 grate
my ears;
孤 城 胡 雁 飞
A solitary town, Hu geese fly overhead.
心 知 别 君 后
My heart knows that after parting from you
61
开 口 笑 应 稀 It will be rare that my mouth will open with laughter.
58 Southwest of today's Lintan 临 潭 , Gansu province.
59 The CSJJZ notes on p. 97 that with years having passed without any messages having been delivered from home, a new
change of clothes would consequently be similarly absent. This situation is opposite of that found in Xu Hun's 许 浑
(791-858) “Below the Frontier” (“Sai xia” 塞 下 ): “Evening battle north of the Sang'gan,/Half the Qin [i.e. Tang] soldiers
do not return./ In the morning there is a letter from home/Sent along with new campaign clothes. 夜 战 桑 干 北 , 秦 兵 半 不
归 . 朝 来 有 乡 信 , 犹 自 寄 征 衣 . See QTS 538.6135.
60 The Tao river originates at Xiqing mountain 西 倾 山 in the Qinghai 青 海 Gansu region, and flows east through Lintao
before entering the Yellow River.
61 CSJJZ, p. 97.