Yuan Dynasty
金字经·夜来西风里
马致远
夜来西风里，
九天鹏鹗飞。
困煞中原一布衣。
悲，
故人知未知？
登楼意，
恨无上天梯。
Translation
In the night, the west wind rises; high in the ninth heaven, great birds soar. Yet I, a common-clothed man of the Central Plain, am trapped in hardship. Sorrow! Do old friends know of my condition or not? As I climb the tower and look out, I only resent that there is no ladder leading up to the sky.
Analysis
This “Jin Zi Jing” is more urgent than Ma’s recluse songs. It begins with an image of great birds soaring in the high heavens, suggesting ambition, success, and the possibility of rising. The next line abruptly reverses that vision: the speaker is only a common man trapped in the Central Plain. The single word “Sorrow!” becomes an emotional explosion. The question about old friends reveals both loneliness and a desire to be recognized. Climbing a tower traditionally invites broad vision, but here it only intensifies frustration: there is no ladder to the sky. The song captures the pain of talent without access.
About the Author
Ma Zhiyuan was one of the foremost Yuan sanqu writers and dramatists. His works range from intense frustration with official life to quiet withdrawal and travel melancholy. Later critics praised him as a master of Yuan song.