老將行 王維

老將行                王維 (701-761)
少年十五二十時，步行奪得胡馬騎。
射殺山中白額虎，肯數鄴下黃須兒。
一身轉戰三千里，一劍曾當百萬師。
漢兵奮迅如霹靂，虜騎奔騰畏蒺藜。
衛青不敗由天幸，李廣無功緣數奇。
自從棄置便衰朽，世事蹉跎成白首。
昔時飛箭無全目，今日垂楊生左肘。
路傍時賣故侯瓜，門前學種先生柳。
蒼茫古木連窮巷，寥落寒山對虛牖。
誓令疏勒出飛泉，不似潁川空使酒。
賀蘭山下陣如雲，羽檄交馳日夕聞。
節使三河募年少，詔書五道出將軍。
試拂鐵衣如雪色，聊持寶劍動星文。
願得燕弓射天將，恥令越甲鳴吾君。
莫嫌舊日雲中守，猶堪一戰取功勛。

Ballad of an Old General            Wang Wei (701-761)

When he was just fifteen to twenty years old,

Just by walking beside a barbarian galloping soldier he seized his horse and riding it back he bolted,
In the mountains he shot a deadly tiger with a white brow,
He is no less valourous than the hero of Yexia the Yellow Bristles,
He fought in battles spanning three thousand miles,
Sword in hand he headed on an army of a million rivals,
Han soldiers were as swift as thunder bolts,
Iron puncture vine mines were what the barbarian galloping warriors feared most,
Wei Qing had never been defeated for the luck Providence bestowed,
Li Guang had never been obliged for his feat under his odd fortune wheel,
Since he was renounced he was left to languish and frail,
Time flies as he had nothing to beguile himself his hair soon grizzled,
In archery he used to excel,
Today on his left arm willow grows,
At times he even sells melons by the road,
In front of his door he plants the symbolic recluse willows,
Gloomily spreading ancient trees into his desolate alley sprawl,
Into his casements come the view of destitute chilly hills,
He swears to make the dried up Shule spring water again sprinkle,
A pragmatic man unlike the waterman of Yingchuan who could only be emboldened  by the wine bottle,
Beneath Mt. Helan soldier formations spread out like cloud files,
Night and day military documents shuttle,
The provincial governing generals of the Three River Regions are recruiting for the armies young people,
Five imperial edicts come to have the general reinstalled,
Polishing his armour as shiny as white snow,
On his precious lethal sword stars sparkle and thrill,
All he hankers is a Yan bow with which he shoots the rival general,
Greatly ashamed he would be if he let the soldiers from Yue to squabble in front of his Lord Imperial,
Never dismiss him as the old general who guarded Yunzhong in times of old,
He can still fight to earn himself feat phenomenal.