王之渙 黃沙直上白雲間 ，一片孤城萬仞山。 Boundless and bare, the yellow sands embrace the white clouds; A lone fort stands guard amidst tall mountains, far from the crowds.

【涼州詞】         唐 • 王之渙        

黃沙直上白雲間，       
一片孤城萬仞山。
羌笛何須怨楊柳，   
春風不度玉門關。

 
 Liangzhou Ci ("Song of Liangzhou")     
-- by WANG ZHIHUAN (688-742)
-- Translated by Frank C Yue

Boundless and bare, the yellow sands embrace the white clouds;
A lone fort stands guard amidst tall mountains, far from the crowds.
A sentry plays on his qiang flute a homesick tune -- Alas! 
The genial winds of Spring could never cross the Jade Gate Pass.



Another version for line 1 of this Wang Zhihuan poem:

1  黃河遠上白雲間，
2   一片孤城萬仞山。

in which case, the English rendition would then be:

1   The Yellow River meanders up the distant white clouds;
2   A lone fort stands guard amidst tall mountains, far from the crowds.


《唐诗别裁》引 王渔洋 的话说：

"必求压卷，王维 之《渭城》、李白 之《白帝》、王昌龄 之‘奉帚平明’、王之涣 之‘黄河远上’ 其庶几乎！而终唐之世，绝句亦无出四章之右者矣。"