Appreciating classical poetry, I returned to my hometown and wrote about Tang Dynasty. He Zhizhang
When I was young, I left home and my elder brother returned, but his local pronunciation has not changed and his mane has declined.
Children don’t recognize each other when they see each other, and they laugh and ask where the guest is from.
[About the author]
He Zhizhang (659──744), courtesy name Jizhen, was born in Yongxing, Yuezhou (now Xiaoshan, Zhejiang). He was less famous for his literary works and became a Jinshi in the first year of Emperor Zhengsheng's reign (695). In the 11th year of Kaiyuan (723), he moved to the Ministry of Rites to serve as Minister of Rites, and later became the guest of the Crown Prince, Secretary and Supervisor. In the winter of the second year of Tianbao (743), he returned to his hometown due to illness and was given a song by Jinghu Yanchuan. Starting from the first month of the following year, Emperor Xuanzong personally gave him poems, and all the officials below the prince wrote poems in farewell. He died of illness shortly after his return at the age of eighty-six, and was later presented to the Minister of Rites.
He is the most successful official among the "Four Scholars in Wuzhong" (He Zhizhang, Zhang Xu, Bao Rong, and Zhang Ruoxu). The other three are all junior officials and low-level officials. But he is not a man of fame and fortune. At the same time, Lu Xiangxian, who came to China at the same time, often said to people: "Brother He is a gentleman with his suave words. He is really a romantic man. My children and I don't even think about him when we are far apart. If I don't see Brother He for a day, I will be stingy." (Old Book of Tang Dynasty) ). When he saw Li Bai in the Ziji Palace in Chang'an, he exclaimed that he had "relegated an immortal" and praised his "The Road to Shu is Difficult". He exchanged the golden turtle for wine and got drunk with Bai Jin. This shows his talent and boldness. Du Fu's "Song of the Eight Immortals in Drinking" lists him as the first of the "Eight Immortals". In his later years, he became even more unrestrained and called himself "Si Ming Kuang Ke". He was also good at calligraphy. "He was good at calligraphy. He traveled around the world with Zhang Xu, and the ordinary people's halls and halls were well decorated with walls and barriers. Suddenly he forgot his calligraphy and wrote several lines, flying away like insects." ("Short History of Calligraphy" by Chen Si of the Southern Song Dynasty) Volume 9), the "Book of Filial Piety" written in cursive by He Zhizhang has been handed down to this generation. The book is like a dragon soaring and a tiger is leaping, and it is true and straightforward. It is indeed a masterpiece. "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty" contains one volume of his poems, with only twenty poems.
[Note]
Fading sideburns: The beard and hair of the elderly become sparse and turn white.
Decline: Decline, neglect.
Leaving home at a young age: He Zhizhang became a Jinshi at the age of thirty-seven and left his hometown before that. He was over eighty years old when he returned to his hometown.
No change: Nothing changed. A work is "hard to change".
Phase: Referential adverb.
Meet: you see me;
Don’t know me: you don’t know me.
[Poetry Translation]
He left his hometown when he was young and returned when he was old. His accent has not changed, but his hair has become sparse and his face has aged.
The village boy saw me but could not recognize me. He smiled and asked me where this guest came from.
[Brief Analysis]
He Zhizhang resigned from his official position in the court during the third year of his stay in Tianbao (744), retired and returned to his hometown of Yongxing, Yuezhou (today's Xiaoshan, Zhejiang) at the age of eighty-six. , at this time, it had been more than fifty years since he left his hometown in middle age. Life is easy to grow old, the world is full of vicissitudes, and there are infinite emotions in my heart. The word "even" in "The Book of Returning to Hometown" not only means that the poem was written by chance, but also reveals the meaning that poetry comes from life and comes from the bottom of the heart.
The first poem was written when I first arrived, expressing the sadness of being a long-time visitor. In the first and second sentences, the poet is placed in the familiar yet unfamiliar environment of his hometown, walking all the way, and his mood is quite uneasy: when he left home, he was in his prime, but when he returns today, his hair on his temples is sparse, and he can't help but sigh. The first sentence uses the words "the young boy leaves home" and "the boss returns" to summarize the fact that he has been visiting a foreign country for decades, and implicitly expresses the feeling of hurting the "boss". The second sentence follows the previous sentence with "the hair on the temples is declining (cuī urged, meaning sparse)", specifically describing his "boss" attitude, and using the unchanged "local pronunciation" to set off the changed "hair on the temples". The next sentence has the meaning of "I have not forgotten my hometown, does my hometown still recognize me?", thus paving the way for the next two sentences to arouse children who don't know each other and ask questions.
In three or four sentences, the poem changes from a self-portrait full of emotion to a dramatic scene of children laughing and asking questions. "Laughing and asking where the guest comes from", for a child, this is just a light question, and the meaning is stopped; for the poet, it becomes a heavy blow, eliciting his endless emotions, his old age, decline and reaction. The sorrow of the host and the guest is all contained in this seemingly ordinary question. The whole poem ends quietly at this unanswered point, but the sound beyond the strings is like a sound in the empty valley, full of sadness and lasting for a long time.
As far as the whole poem is concerned, one or two sentences are still average, but the three or four sentences are like twists and turns and have a different realm.
The wonderful thing about the last two sentences is that there is no trace of the powder on the back: although it is about sadness, it is expressed through happy scenes; although it is about oneself, it is translated from the child's side. The scene of children's questioning is full of the interest of life. Even if we are not infected by the poet's sadness for the elderly after being away for a long time, we cannot but be moved by this interesting life scene.
The second song can be regarded as a continuation of the first song. After the poet arrived home, he learned about the various changes in human affairs in his hometown through conversations with relatives and friends. While lamenting the old age due to long-term guests, he could not help but lament the impermanence of human affairs. "It has been many years since I left my hometown", which is equivalent to the previous song's "Young boy leaves home and the old man returns". The poet takes the trouble to repeat the same meaning simply because all the emotions are caused by being away from home for decades. So the next sentence turns to the discussion about personnel affairs. The sentence "People have been half passing away recently" seems abstract and objective, but in fact it contains many specific contents that deeply touched the poet's emotions, including the bursts of exclamations when "visiting old times and half being ghosts", and the various sighs caused by the sinking of relatives and friends. , all included. There are too many to mention, so I have to mention them in a general way.
Within three or four sentences, the poet's attention shifted from changes in personnel to the description of natural scenery. Jinghu Lake is located at the northern foot of Kuaiji Mountain in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province today, with a surrounding area of ??more than 300 miles. He Zhizhang's former residence is next to Jinghu Lake. Although it has been decades since I left Jinghu Lake, the water waves of Jinghu Lake remain the same in the surrounding spring scenery. When the poet stood beside Jinghu Lake, a feeling of "things have changed and people have changed" naturally came to his mind, so he wrote another poem: "Only the water of Jinghu Lake in front of the door, the spring breeze does not change the waves of the old times." When the poet stood beside Jinghu Lake, a feeling of "things have changed and people have changed" naturally came to his mind, so he wrote another poem: "Only the water of Jinghu Lake in front of the door, the spring breeze does not change the waves of the old times."
The poet uses "no change" to contrast "half-passed", and uses "only" to further develop the meaning of "half-passed", emphasizing that except for the waves in the lake, almost all the personnel and affairs in the past have changed. From one or two sentences of direct expression to three or four sentences of description of scenery and discussion, it seems to be talking casually and without meaning. In fact, it is a wonderful contrast, which just strengthens the emotion to be expressed from the opposite side. Against the backdrop of the unchanging waves of the lake, , the emotion about the deterioration of personnel becomes more and more profound.
It should also be noted that words indicating time such as "many years", "recently", and "old times" run through the poem, making the whole poem enveloped in a kind of low-minded contemplation, as if overwhelmed with emotion. in the atmosphere. Compared with the first prime minister, if the poet felt a little relieved to be among his relatives when he first entered the house and saw the children, then after he listened to the introduction of relatives and friends, he felt independent by the sparkling mirror lake. By this time, it had undoubtedly become increasingly sentimental.
Lu Youyou once said: "Articles are made by nature, but come by chance." The success of the two poems "Returning to My Hometown" lies in the fact that the poems show a state of transformation. The emotion of the poem is natural and lifelike, and the rhyme of the language seems to flow naturally from the heart. It is simple and unpretentious, and readers are unknowingly introduced into the artistic conception of the poem. Good poems like this, which originate from life and come from the bottom of my heart, are very rare.
Two Occasional Poems on Returning to Hometown
The young man left home and his elder brother came back, but his local pronunciation has not changed and his hair on his temples has faded.
Children don’t recognize each other when they see each other, and they laugh and ask where the guest is from.
It has been many years since I left my hometown, and recently I have been busy with people.
Only the mirror lake in front of the door, the spring breeze does not change the old waves