Wandering Swordsman

ten years i’ve polished this sword
its frost-edge untouched by use

today i show it to you, my lord:1
tell me, whose wrongs can i address?

剑客

贾岛

十年磨一剑,
霜刃未曾试。
今日把示君,
谁有不平事?


  1. this is just 君 jun, a polite you (“Sir”) in poetic context, or a superior person. however, the question in the last line (lit. “who has been wronged?”) reads to me as though the speaker is directly addressing 君 and seeking direction, YMMV. ↩︎