Song of White Snow in Farewell to Secretary Wu Returning to the Capital (Cen Shen, Song of White Snow in Farewell to Secretary Wu Returning to the Capital)

The northern wind rolls the earth, snapping the white grass; in the Tartar sky, snow flies already in the eighth month. Suddenly, as if a spring breeze had passed overnight, thousands of pear trees burst into bloom. Snowflakes drift through pearl blinds, dampening silk curtains; fox-fur robes feel not warm, and brocade quilts seem too thin. The general's horn-bow freezes, unable to draw; the commander's iron armor chills, hard to put on. The vast desert is crisscrossed with ice a hundred feet thick; gloomy clouds congeal for ten thousand leagues. In the commander's tent, a feast is laid to see off the returning guest, accompanied by Tartar fiddles, lutes, and pipes. At dusk, heavy snow falls thick outside the camp gate; the red flag is frozen stiff, unable to flutter in the wind. At the eastern gate of Luntai, I see you off; when you leave, snow has already covered the road to the Heavenly Mountain. The mountain winds and the road twists—I can no longer see your figure; only a line of hoofprints remains in the snow.