Home › Poems › The Officer at Shihao Village
Shí Háo LìThe Officer at Shihao Village 石壕吏
Du Fu witnesses a night conscription raid.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
暮投石壕村
mù tóu shí háo cūn
有吏夜捉人
yǒu lì yè zhuō rén
老翁逾墙走
lǎo wēng yú qiáng zǒu
老妇出门看
lǎo fù chū mén kān
吏呼一何怒
lì hū yī hé nù
妇啼一何苦
fù tí yī hé kǔ
听妇前致词
tīng fù qián zhì cí
三男邺城戍
sān nán yè chéng shù
Simplified characters; traditional title: 石壕吏. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.
English translation
At dusk I lodged in Shihao Village;
an officer came by night to seize men.
The old man climbed over the wall and fled;
the old woman went out of the gate to see.
How furious the officer's shouts!
How bitter the old woman's weeping!
I heard her step forward and speak:
"My three sons are guarding Yecheng…"
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Du Fu writes as a silent witness. The parallel lines "How furious… How bitter…" set the officer's anger against the woman's grief. Then she speaks: two sons are dead, one survives, only a grandson and his mother remain. The poet never comments; the facts are the protest. It is one of the great works of Chinese realism.
Background
One of Du Fu's "Three Officers" poems, written in 759 after a Tang defeat at Yecheng, when officers were seizing anyone for the army. Only the opening is shown; in the full poem the old woman finally goes herself.
Key words
- 捉人 zhuō rén
- to seize men (for the army)
- 逾墙 yú qiáng
- to climb over the wall
- 致词 zhì cí
- to speak, to plead
- 戍 shù
- to garrison, to guard
About the poet: Du Fu
Du Fu (also romanized Tu Fu) lived through the An Lushan Rebellion, which tore apart the Tang empire and his own family life. His precise, compassionate poems record war, poverty and loyalty, earning him the titles "Sage of Poetry" and "poet-historian."
Lifetime: 712–770. Other famous works: Happy Rain on a Spring Night (春夜喜雨); The Prime Minister of Shu (蜀相); The Officer at Shihao Village (石壕吏); Thoughts While Traveling at Night (旅夜书怀); Qujiang (曲江); Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan (江南逢李龟年); Ballad of the Army Carts (兵车行); Moonlit Night (月夜); Spring View (春望); Climbing High (登高); Quatrain: Two Orioles (绝句·两个黄鹂鸣翠柳); On Yueyang Tower (登岳阳楼); My Thatched Hut Torn by the Autumn Wind (茅屋为秋风所破歌); Gazing at Mount Tai (望岳); A Guest Arrives (客至); Strolling by the River V (江畔独步寻花 其五); Strolling Alone by the River in Search of Flowers (江畔独步寻花); River Village (江村); Winter Solstice Eve (小至); Thinking of Li Bai on a Spring Day (春日忆李白); Easing the Heart by the Water Rail (水槛遣心); Quatrain (绝句); Casual Quatrain (绝句漫兴); For General Hua (赠花卿).
More by Du Fu
- Spring View春望
- Quatrain (The River Blue)绝句
- Climbing High登高
- On Yueyang Tower登岳阳楼
- Moonlit Night月夜
- Happy Rain on a Spring Night春夜喜雨
- Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan江南逢李龟年
- Qujiang曲江