Meng Jiao
“Chill River”
An inspiration from https://substack.com/@tangpoetry
孟郊 寒溪·其九
溪风摆馀冻，溪景衔明春。
玉消花滴滴，虬解光鳞鳞。
悬步下清曲，消期濯芳津。
千里冰裂处，一勺暖亦仁。
凝精互相洗，漪涟竞将新。
忽如剑疮尽，初起百战身。
Mèng jiāo hán xī·qí jiǔ
Xī fēng bǎi yú dòng, xī jǐng xián míng chūn.
Yù xiāo huā dī dī, qiú jiě guāng lín lín.
Xuán bù xià qīng qū, xiāo qī zhuó fāng jīn.
Qiānlǐ bīng liè chù, yī sháo nuǎn yì rén.
Níng jīng hùxiāng xǐ, yī lián jìng jiāng xīn.
Hū rú jiàn chuāng jǐn, chū qǐ bǎi zhàn shēn.
He looked into the stream packed into the scale-stitched armor. Then he looked back at his motley crew and sighed. Even jade was not worth the chance of dying with this lot. The flowers wept for his soul and the ice was waiting to taste his blood, but there was a rush from the mountains – it was morning and the sun rose with a vengeance to defeat the envious moon. There were rivulets washed new springs that toy with his boots.
He knew it was a good day to die.