238. Song of Geshu | Anonymous Westerner
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
北斗七星高，哥舒夜带刀。
English translation
The seven stars of the Northern Dipper hang high; Geshu wears his sword through the night.
Geshu is generally understood as the Tang frontier commander Geshu Han. The high Dipper establishes the night sky before the armed commander appears, in the direct manner of a frontier praise song.
Original Chinese text
至今窥牧马，不敢过临洮。
English translation
Even now, enemy horsemen watch and graze beyond the border, not daring to cross at Lintao.
The line pictures frontier riders probing the border with their herds. Lintao was a strategic northwestern point; their refusal to cross expresses the commander's reputation through the enemy's caution.
赏析 · Commentary
民歌口吻中的边将形象 · A Frontier Commander in Folk-Song Language
诗不列战功，也不写具体战役，只留下夜间佩刀和敌骑不敢越境两个画面。人物因此像边地百姓口耳相传的守护者。“西鄙人”并非确定姓名，而是西部边地人的称呼，这也符合全诗短促、易记的歌谣口吻。
The song lists no campaigns or formal achievements. It keeps only two images: a commander armed at night and enemy riders unwilling to cross. He appears as a protector preserved in frontier memory. Anonymous Westerner is not a personal name but a designation for someone from the western borderlands, fitting the poem's brief, memorable song form.
北斗与临洮定出一片边地 · Dipper Above, Lintao Below
第一句抬头写北斗，末句落到临洮，中间站着带刀的哥舒。天空、人物、关塞形成一条由高到低的线。诗没有描写交战，紧张感来自“窥”和“不敢”：边外始终有人试探，边内也始终有人戒备。
The first line looks up to the Dipper and the last descends to Lintao, with the armed Geshu between them. Sky, commander, and pass form a line from high to low. No battle is described. Tension rests in watch and not dare: someone beyond the border keeps probing, and someone within keeps guard.