Home › Poems › Liangzhou Song (Grape Wine)
Liáng Zhōu CíLiangzhou Song (Grape Wine) 凉州词
Wang Han's frontier toast before battle.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
葡萄美酒夜光杯
pú táo měi jiǔ yè guāng bēi
欲饮琵琶马上催
yù yǐn pí pá mǎ shàng cuī
醉卧沙场君莫笑
zuì wò shā chǎng jūn mò xiào
古来征战几人回
gǔ lái zhēng zhàn jǐ rén huí
Simplified characters; traditional title: 涼州詞.
English translation
Fine grape wine in luminous cups of jade—
We are about to drink when the pipa calls us to ride.
Drunk, we lie on the sand; don't laugh, my friend,
How many ever returned from battle since days of old?
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
The opening is a lavish feast with exotic wine and glowing cups. Then the music strikes up — a summons to battle or a spur to drink. The final couplet sounds jovial, but its logic is grim: so few soldiers return that getting drunk now hardly matters. Bravado and fatalism are perfectly fused.
Background
"Liangzhou Song" was a popular tune from the northwest frontier, and many poets wrote lyrics for it. Grape wine and "night-glowing cups" were exotic goods from Central Asia.
Key words
- 夜光杯 yè guāng bēi
- "night-glowing cup," of white jade
- 琵琶 pí pá
- pipa, a lute
- 沙场 shā chǎng
- battlefield
About the poet: Wang Han
Wang Han was a wealthy, free-spirited High Tang official. Few of his poems survive, but his "Liangzhou Song" is a classic of frontier verse.
Lifetime: c. 687–735. Other famous works: Liangzhou Song (Grape Wine) (凉州词).