“Old Friend from the Barbarians” is a five-character regulated verse by the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ji. It is the 111th poem in Volume 384 of the Complete Tang Poems. [1] The first couplet of this poem uses a narrative method to explain the time and place of the annihilation of the entire army; the second couplet continues the previous couplet to express the poet’s grief at having no news of his friends and not knowing whether they are alive or dead; the third couplet uses a series of close-up shots to imagine the tragic scene after the annihilation of the entire army; the last couplet is sincere and heartfelt, revealing the poet’s tortuous feelings of being in a dilemma and crying at the end of the river. The poem does not contain any arguments, but the lines are filled with deep sympathy for the old friend from the Barbarians and the Tang army soldiers, and hatred of war and worries about national affairs are also implied.
《没蕃故人》是唐代诗人张籍所作的五言律诗，是《全唐诗》的第384卷第111首。[1] 此诗首联以叙事的方式交待全军覆没的时间和地点；颔联承接上文写诗人与友人消息断绝、不知生死的沉痛之情；颈联用一组特写镜头，想象全军覆没后的惨景；尾联情真意切，诚堪呜咽，揭示诗人内心两为其难、望涯痛哭的曲折心情。全诗不着议论，但字里行间充溢着对没蕃故人和唐军将士的深切同情，而对战争的痛恨和对国事的忧虑亦隐寓其中。
《没蕃故人》 张籍
前年戍月支，城下没全师。
蕃汉断消息，死生长别离！
无人收废帐，归马识残旗。
欲祭疑君在，天涯哭此时！
To an Old Friend Lost in Tubo
Zhang Ji
At the borderland were you stationed last year;
Your army was lost outside the city wall.
News was cut off between here and the frontier;
The living are severed from those who fell at duty’s call.
Your tent was left with no one to retrieve;
Your horse knew the torn flag on its homeward way.
I’d offer a sacrifice, but can I believe
You are dead? Alas! I shed my tears far way.
