Thinking of My Brothers on a Moonlit Night

Today, we’re looking at one of Du Fu’s poems. We covered one of his works before, but his oeuvre is massive. Here is the poem for the day:

月夜憶舍弟

戍鼓斷人行，秋邊一雁聲。

露從今夜白，月是故鄉明。

有弟皆分散，無家問死生。

寄書長不達，況乃未休兵。

Thinking of my Brothers on a Moonlit Night

The drums of war have cut the roads

On the cusp of autumn, the solitary goose croons

From tonight on, the dew will be white

This moon is the same one that shines upon my homeplace

My brothers are all scattered

I have no home to ask if they are alive or dead

Letters sent long ago never arrive

This will only get worse now that the fighting has not stopped

• – Translator – Lee Moore