Wang Changling's pitiless war

His road really was hard

Dark Hills, home of wild beasts and wild men

Variation on A Hard Road to Walk
Wang Changling

A mournful flute draws evening in,
With horses’ whinnies on the wind.
The vanguard leads the banner out
Through massing, thousand layer cloud.
From dark hills, the Chanyu descends,
Hear the hollow, rattling sand.
Nobility is battle-bred—
Away with dreams of the marriage bed.

王昌龄  变行路难
向晚横吹悲，风动马嘶合。
前驱引旗节，千重阵云匝。
单于下阴山，砂砾空飒飒。
封侯取一战，岂复念闺阁。

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The Chanyu was the leader of the northern horseriding barbarians, scourge of the Han Dynasty.

The Dark Hills were the Tolkienesque name of a mountain range in modern Inner Mongolia. They are sometimes still called the Yin (dark) Mountains today, or sometimes the Daqing Mountains.

This poem seems very much unlike other poems with this same title. Perhaps Wang Changling simply liked the tune, but wanted to adapt it for his own, harder-edged style of war poetry.