月夜忆舍弟

 Thinking of My Brothers on a Moonlit Night by Du Fu¹

( In Simplified Chinese characters)  

月夜忆舍弟 yuè yè yì shè dì

戍鼓断人行 shù gǔ duàn rén xíng

边秋一雁声 qiū biān yí yàn shēng

露从今夜白 lù cóng jīn yè bái

月是故乡明 yuè shì gù xiāng míng

有弟皆分散 yǒu dì jiē fēn sàn

无家问死生 wú jiā wèn sǐ shēng

寄书长不达 jì shū cháng bú bì

况乃未休兵 kuàng nǎi wèi xiū bīng

Garrison drum cut person movement

Autumn border one goose sound

Dew from today night white

Moon is homeland bright

Have brother all disperse

No home ask die life

Send letter all not reach

Particularly as not stop fightingThe army drums cut off human travel,

A lone goose sounds on the borderland in autumn.

Tonight we start the season of White Dew,

The moon is just as bright as in my homeland.

My brothers are spread all throughout the land,

No home to ask if they are living or dead.

The letters we send always go astray,

And still the fighting does not cease.

View Chinese text in traditional character :

月夜憶舍弟 yuè yè yì shè dì

戍鼓斷人行 shù gǔ duàn rén xíng

邊秋一雁聲 qiū biān yí yàn shēng

露從今夜白 lù cóng jīn yè bái

月是故鄉明 yuè shì gù xiāng míng

有弟皆分散 yǒu dì jiē fēn sàn

無家問死生 wú jiā wèn sǐ shēng

寄書長不達 jì shū cháng bú bì

況乃未休兵 kuàng nǎi wèi xiū bīng

Garrison drum cut person movement

Autumn border one goose sound

Dew from today night white

Moon is homeland bright

Have brother all disperse

No home ask die life

Send letter all not reach

Particularly as not stop fightingThe army drums cut off human travel,

A lone goose sounds on the borderland in autumn.

Tonight we start the season of White Dew,

The moon is just as bright as in my homeland.

My brothers are spread all throughout the land,

No home to ask if they are living or dead.

The letters we send always go astray,

And still the fighting does not cease.

¹Du Fu ( Chinese: 杜 甫 : Tu Fu; 712-770) was a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty. Along with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai (Li Po), he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets. 

Notes: This poem dates from year 759,  written on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival . The goose is a symbol of autumn and letters from afar. White Dew is a period in autumn following the Mid-Autumn festival .

This poem is volume (juàn) 225, no. 49 in the Complete Tang Poems (quán táng shī).