A refreshing lute complains that the night is long.
The music around the strings is as sad as wind and rain.
By a lonely lamp I hear a Chu horn 2.
The crescent moon sets behind Zhang Balcony.
The fragrant grass starts to wither,
But the friend I have waited for does not come.
I cannot receive any letters from home 3.
In addition, the autumn wild geese have flown south 4.
1
The word for balcony was (and is) tai. During the Han dynasty there was a
balcony named Zhang Balcony in the Zhang-Tai Palace in Chang-an, the capital.
The balcony overlooked Zhang-Tai Street.
2
A Chu horn refers to the music of Country Chu being played by a horn. The
tone of this music is sad.
3
Because there was a civil war going on.
4
Wei wants to write a letter home, but his only messenger, like the wild
geese, has migrated south already.