from Tune: Yang-chou man (A Slow Song of Yangchow) Title: On 19 December 1853, the (Taiping) Rebels Are Approaching the Capital. Upon Hearing of the Recovery of Yangchow by Government Troops by Chiang Ch’un-lin

But what avails the common folk?
Under a dark moon, fireflies are drifting aimlessly;
The west wind sobs
Amidst ghost fires here and there.
But it hurts even more as I look toward the south:
Across the river, innumerable green-peaked hills!

translated by Irving Lo

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