Arrival of the Fire Horse - Horse Poems by Li He

The twelfth moon is waning and the first new moon will soon announce the arrival of Lunar New Year.  It promises to be singularly auspicious occasion.  This is the Year of the Fire Horse, after all, which is an omen signifying major changes are in the works.  It is a time for personal initiative and daring.

The Fire Horse’s arrival is sudden and dramatic.  Who better to turn to unravel its meaning than the Tang poet Li He, who wrote a series of 23 short verses paying tribute to the Fire Horse spirit.  Li He was an expert on the subject, having been born in the Year of the Horse, it was his guiding spirit and integral to his poetry; as a  young man, he would ride out on his favorite horse (a tired old nag, by some accounts) and compose his poems to the rhythm of its hoofbeats. 

This series of horse poems is understood by most scholars to be Li He’s way of writing about himself, and his struggle to come to turn with his own vast talent. It’s like the Tang Dynasty equivalent of Sylvia Plath’s Ariel poem - a deeply personal account of the poet’s life written at a cantor or gallop.  Like Plath, Li He’s life came to an early tragic end, as he was unable to keep up with the galloping pace of his own genius.

Here is my translation of the first five poems in the series.

Horse Poems by Li He 

马诗 - 李賀

Number 1

Stretched out like a dragon’s spine

Or a long string of cash

With silver hooves at the ready 

To trample the mist

 

Riderless with a silken blanket

Who will forge for you a golden lash?

 

龍脊貼連錢

銀蹄白踏煙

 

無人織錦韂

誰為鑄金鞭

Number 2

 

By year’s end the sweetness

Has retreated into the grasses’ roots

The capital city streets

Are filled with snow

That sparkles like salt

 

Who knows whether

It will be harsh or gentle

As this horse takes the bridle

With spikes and all

Into its mouth?

 

 

臘月草根甜

天街雪似鹽

 

未知口硬軟

先擬蒺藜銜

Number 3

 

Suddenly recalling Mu

The Emperor of Zhou

Rushing up Jade Mountain

In his speedy chariot

 

The colts bray when leaving

Phoenix Garden

The Fire Horse

Is the clear favorite

 

忽憶周天子

驅車上玉山

鳴騶辭鳳苑

赤驥最承恩

 

Number 4

 

This is no ordinary horse

But one that came from a herd

That's part of a heavenly constellation

 

As it charges forward

If you strike its slender bones

You’ll hear the clang of bronze

 

此馬非凡馬

房星本是星

 

向前敲瘦骨

猶自帶銅聲

Number 5

 

 

Desert sands shimmer like snow

The moon hangs over Mount Yan

Like a scimitar blade

 

When will this horse

With its golden bridle

Come galloping forward

Swift as the spirit of autumn?

 

大漠沙如雪

燕山月似钩

何当金络脑

快走踏清秋