“Drinking at Night in Youzhou” is a five-character regulated verse written by Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Shuo. The first couplet of the poem describes the bleakness of a rainy autumn night in the north. The second couplet turns to a banquet in the hall, and uses the banquet to temporarily forget the “old heart” and alludes to the feeling of old age in daily life. The third couplet literally says that being in the army “suitable” to do sword dance, and being in the frontier only “values” the sound of the horn. However, it is not difficult to see that it actually means that in the military headquarters in the border areas, there are only rough sword dances and horn sounds to watch. The last couplet continues the previous one and expresses emotions. On the surface, it says that being able to watch dance and music as a general in the border town is entirely due to the grace of the monarch, but in fact it also expresses the meaning of complaint in a veiled way.
《幽州夜饮》是唐代诗人张说创作的五言律诗。诗的首联描写出北地秋天雨夜的萧瑟。颔联一转而写高堂宴会，以宴会能暂忘“迟暮心”而影射出平日的迟暮之感。颈联字面上说的是身在军中“宜”作剑舞，地处塞上只“重”笳音。然而不难看出，实则是说在边地军府中只有粗犷的剑舞、笳音可供观赏。尾联承前而抒情，表面上说能作为边城将领观舞赏乐全赖君主恩惠，实则也是含沙射影表达出了牢骚之意。
《幽州夜饮》 张说
凉风吹夜雨，萧瑟动寒林。
正有高堂宴，能忘迟暮心？
军中宜剑舞，塞上重笳音。
不做边城将，谁知恩遇深？
Drinking at Night
Zhang Yue
The cool breeze brings drizzles at night;
The dreary woods shiver with fright.
A banquet is held in the hall;
The guests forget their spring and fall.
Sword dance fills the army with cheer;
Bugle songs delight the frontier,
Were we not generals on the border,
Could we keep the empire in order?
