Li Shangyin in Tang Dynasty
When you ask about the return date, it's hard to say, evening rain, Manqiuchi.
When * * * cut the candle at the west window, but talk about the rain at night.
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1 A Short Message to a Northern Friend on a Rainy Night, selected from Li Yishan Collection, is a famous lyric short chapter written by Li Shangyin by a poet to his northern wife. At that time, the poet was blocked by the autumn rain and stayed in the Beijing-Pakistan area. His wife sent a letter from home asking about the date of her return. However, due to the continuous autumn rain and traffic interruption, it is impossible to determine, so reply: Jun asked that the return date is undecided. This sentence has questions and answers, ups and downs, revealing the poet's anxiety about being in a foreign land and having an uncertain return date. The poet and his wife, Mr. Wang, are deeply attached to each other and always look forward to returning to their hometown as soon as possible, sitting under the west window with his wife and chatting late into the night by candlelight. At this time, I can only miss it hard. There are only four sentences in the poem, but the scene is integrated with reality, which not only contains the repeated contrast of space, but also reflects the cyclic jump of time. "What to do" is the word of imagination, and imagination comes from real scenes. So the second sentence of the late rain has become an imaginary topic, and naturally it has become such a clever poem as "refusing to talk about the late rain".
Most of Li Shangyin's love poems are elegant, gorgeous, deep and tortuous. This poem, consisting of 10,000 Tang poems, is entitled "Night Rain Sends Inside". "Inside" means "my wife" and refers to my wife. The poet misses his wife on a rainy night in Bashan and is full of deep homesickness. The poet wrote his deep affection and kindness to his wife in plain language. The whole poem is ingenious, natural and smooth, ups and downs.
This is a well-known poem written by Bashu, a poet living in a distant foreign land, to his wife (or friend) in Chang 'an. Li Shangyin's love for his wife is sincere. They were married less than 12 years, and their wife died. Even in that 12 year, because the poet was wandering around, he could not get together with his wife often. As the saying goes, a little parting is better than a wedding. Li Shangyin and his wife are often separated for a long time, so they have a deeper and stronger understanding of their love and acacia. In his works, he shows the enthusiasm of "spring silkworm spinning silk" and "wax torch turning into ash", showing a unique artistic style.
This little poem is written clearly, without allusions or comparisons, and goes straight to books, landscapes and words. The affection in the scene, the blending of the scene and the infinite affection in the plain words leave endless room for aftertaste.
At the beginning of the first sentence, you directly call the other person "Jun" and draw a picture of lovesickness between husband and wife from a unique perspective: Dear wife, you must be anxious to ask me when I will return to China. So, now I tell you, I don't know when I can go home. The uniqueness of this poem lies in the poet's writing of acacia from a misplaced perspective, that is, the other party may not really write to ask about the date of return, but the poet imagines his wife's missing and asks about the date of return. China's ancient poems about lovesickness often don't directly write about how to miss each other, but how to miss himself, which euphemistically expresses the poet's feelings of missing. For example, Du Fu's Moonlit Night shows his thoughts about his wife by imagining his thoughts about himself on the moonlit night. The phrase "Jun asks if he will return soon" seems dull, but it injects the thoughts of his wife into every word, which is euphemistic, affectionate and intriguing.
"Late Rain Rising in Autumn Pond" is about the environment in which he lived at that time, that is, the scenery. The poet described a specific environment in concise language: Bashan, autumn night and pouring rain. The author gives a more specific description of this environment, not only describing the rain in the sky, but also describing the rain accumulated underground. Through the realistic scenery, people seem to feel such an atmosphere: it is dark all around, it is raining cats and dogs, the pool is full, there is no intimate friend around the author, and it is raining cats and dogs, making people feel lonely and desolate. This intermittent autumn rain makes people upset, the pool is full of feelings, and the nature author's heart is also surging. Then, the feeling of "autumn pool rising" is more than torrential autumn rain and rising pool water. Obviously, it is the emotional wave of the author's infinite yearning for his wife in sleepless nights. Therefore, there are deep feelings in the scenery, and the environment is written, but it is not just the environment. There is a word "love" between the lines. In this way, the blending of scenes constitutes an artistic realm.
This poem was written twice: "Rain at Night". The first time it was actually written, and the second time it was written in white. I dreamed of meeting my wife again, and then I recalled the scene of rain at night when "the candle was cut at the west window".
If the first two sentences are written as prospect, then the last two sentences are written as future. On the night of autumn rain, the poets touched the scene, spread their wings of imagination and expressed their love with rich natural associations. The poet chose two modes here: one is the dynamic scissors, and the other is the confirmation of pronunciation. "* * * Cut the candle at the west window" depicts a beautiful picture of a beautiful night in detail and infinitely, and the word "* * *" describes the intimate mode. However, the word "He Dang" pushed the beautiful scenery described by the poet into the distance and into the void. This beautiful scenery turned out to be nothing more than the poet's yearning for it. As for when to return to my gentle hometown, everything is "irregular". This is a cruel thing and a helpless thing. This sentence is full of emotion, but it does not contain a word "emotion", which is very implicit.
There is no better way to express your feelings than words. "Keep your word". The poet imagined that husband and wife would get together, talk by candlelight and communicate with each other. "Refusing to talk" is a retrospective memory. The poet imagines that time at this time, and then he is talking about this time, talking about the feelings of missing when the rain is there at night. The word "late rain" appears in two places in this short four-sentence poem, which is extremely rare in ordinary ancient poetry.
2. Who is this poem for? Friends and wives say. The former thinks that Li Shangyin lived in Bashu when he was the aide of Dongchuan Ambassador from 39 to 43, but before that, his wife Wang had died. The holder believes that Li Shangyin has traveled to Bashu before this. Others think it is addressed to "family or friends". Judging from the passionate thoughts and sentimental feelings expressed in the poem, it seems more suitable for giving it to his wife.
Opening the first topic, "the date of your return is uncertain", makes people feel that this is a poem that replaces letters with poems. A long passage was omitted before the poem. It can be guessed that the poet received a letter from his wife, hoping that her husband would return to his hometown as soon as possible. Poets naturally hope to go home and reunite as soon as possible. However, due to various reasons, the wish cannot be realized at the moment. The first sentence expresses the pain and miss of parting.
The second sentence, "Rose in the Autumn Rain", is a poet telling his wife about his environment and mood. The rainy night in autumn mountain always evokes the sadness of leaving people. The poet expressed his infinite yearning for his wife with this scenery that sent people away from their thoughts. It seems to make people imagine that on an autumn night, the pond is full of water, and the poet is alone in the room, leaning on the bed and thinking. Thinking about his wife's life and mood at home at the moment; Recall their previous life together; Chew on my loneliness.
Three or four sentences, "Why cut the candle at the west window, but talk about the rain at night", are all beautiful imaginations for future reunion. Lonely thoughts in my heart can only be pinned on the future. At that time, the poet returned to his hometown, whispering with his wife under the Westinghouse window, and stayed up all night, so that the candlelight blossomed. They cut off the flowers, but they still have endless feelings of parting and endless joy of reunion. This poem not only describes the loneliness of listening to autumn rain in Bashan today, but also imagines the happiness when we meet tomorrow. The pain at this time is intertwined with the joy in the future, and time and space change.
The language of this poem is simple and fluent, sincere and sincere. "Late Rain" appears repeatedly at the beginning and end, which is thrilling. "What to do" is closely related to "unexpired", which effectively shows the author's urgent mood of returning home.
3. Now Li's poem is titled "Rainy Night Writing to Northern Friends", and "Northern" refers to people from the North, which can refer to wives or friends. After textual research, some people think that it was written after the death of the author's wife, Wang, so it is not a poem, but a gift to friends in Chang 'an. However, judging from the content of the poem, it seems more accurate to understand it by "sending it inside"
The first question and answer, first pause, then turn, ups and downs, very expressive. Translated, it is: "You asked me the date of going home; Oh, the date of going home, there is no time yet! " The sadness of his journey and the pain of not coming back flooded his mind. Next, I wrote the eye scene at this time: "It rains at night in the autumn pond", which has vividly shown the sorrow of the journey and the pain of not returning. It is intertwined with the rain at night, falling and falling, rising all over the autumn pond and filling the night sky of Bashan. However, this sadness and pain is only a natural expression through the prospect of the eyes; The author didn't say anything about bitterness, but set out from this prospect, galloped his imagination and opened up a new realm, expressing his wish to "cut the candle at the west window, but talk about the rain at night". The novelty of its conception is really a bit surprising. However, if you put yourself in the other's shoes, you will feel sincere and sincere, and every word will naturally flow from your heart. The word "when can be" expresses the wish, which comes from the reality that "the return date of the gentleman is uncertain" in generate. "* * * scissors ..." and "Nothing to say ..." Is the desire for future happiness inspired by the current hardships? Looking forward to "cutting the candle at the west window" when you get home, it is self-evident that you are homesick at this time. I hope I can reunite with my wife one day, but saying "rain at night" means "listening to rain at night alone". No one can speak * * * language, which is not obvious. Cutting candles alone, staying up late, reading his wife's letter asking about the return date in the rain of Bashan, it is not difficult to imagine that his mood is depressed and lonely. The author, on the other hand, crossed all this to write about the future, hoping to catch up with everything tonight in the joy of reunion. Therefore, the joy of the future naturally reflects the bitterness of tonight; The bitterness of this evening has become the material for cutting candles in the future, adding to the joy of reunion. Four poems, as clear as words, so tortuous, so profound, so implicit and meaningful, memorable!
In Li Yishan Poetry, Yao Peiqian commented on Notes for a friend in the North on a rainy night, saying: "Those who look far away sit in the boudoir at midnight" (Bai Juyi's Homesickness from Winter to Day and Night), which means that the soul flies home. This poem also flew home in advance, which is amazing! "This view is good, but only said half. In fact, the "soul" is "pre-flying home", flying back to the place of detention before going home, and going back and forth once. This kind of back and forth not only includes the reciprocal comparison of space, but also reflects the cyclic comparison of time. Gui Fu said in the sixth volume of Miscellaneous Spectrum: "Seeing the future rather than thinking about it has a deeper meaning. "As far as space is concerned, this refers to the comparison between here (Bashan), there (West Window) and here (Bashan). Xu Dehong said in Li Yishan's Poems: "If you look back at him and talk about this night, you will feel deeply if you don't start writing at this time. "As far as time is concerned, this refers to the comparison of this night, another day and this night. In the poems of predecessors, there are many examples of people writing here and thinking about other places. There are many people who want to remember today when writing. However, the combination of the two forms such a perfect artistic conception, but Li Shangyin is not only good at learning from the artistic experience of his predecessors, but also brave in making new explorations and exerting his original spirit.
The originality of the above artistic conception is reflected in the originality of the composition structure. The word "period" can be seen from two aspects, one is to ask your wife and the other is to answer yourself; The wife asked to urge her to come back early, but lamented that the date of her return was not accurate. "Late Rain" re-emerged, one is a real scene among the guests, and it is a tight answer; One is to talk about help after going back, and the wife should ask from a distance. And with "how to do" in the middle, connect the past and the future, turn reality into nothingness, open up the realm of imagination, and make the cycle control of time and space blend seamlessly. Modern poetry generally avoids literal repetition, but this poem deliberately breaks away from convention. The two views of the word "period", especially the reappearance of "late rain", just constitute a wonderful cycle of timbre and composition, which just shows the artistic beauty of the cycle of time and space and achieves the perfect combination of content and form. Wang Anshi, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote in "Waiting for Longhua Courtyard with Bao Jue": "When will water and Jing Gong asking for the moon take care of me?" Asking for the moon:' When shall I stay in Zhongshan?' Yang Wanli's "Listening to the Rain" says: "Returning to the boat, I stayed in Yanling last year, and the rain hit the awning and I heard the light. Last night, it began to rain under the thatched eaves, and the dream was called the sound of the sky. " These two poems are handsome and lively, each with its own new ideas, but they are also obviously inspired by "Notes to a friend in the North on a rainy night" in terms of conception and writing.
4. At that time, Li Shangyin worked as a secretary in Liu Zhongying Shogunate, our envoy in Dongchuan (now Santai, Sichuan), but his wife and children were far away in Chang 'an (now Xi 'an, Shaanxi), and Chang 'an was in the northeast of Bashu, so it was called Beisong.
This is a simple poem. The whole poem is like a poem, clear and fresh, without interest and allusions? There are no symbols. This is rare in Li Shangyin's poems. Most of his works are famous for their flowery rhetoric. This poem is just four sentences, but it is just an expression: you ask me when I will return, and I don't know when I will return. At present, Bashan in the night is full of autumn rain, and the pond is full of autumn water. When can I cut candles at night under the west window and talk with you, and then talk about the rainy night today?
Generally speaking, modern poetry should avoid literal repetition. But in this poem, the author seems to deliberately repeat the phrase "late rain", and late rain has indeed become the most impressive image in the whole poem. This image appears twice in the poem, but it gives people a completely different feeling.
The first appearance of "Late Rain" in "Late Rain and Autumn Pond" is the poet's realistic background, pointing out the poet's time and space position at that time: autumn, rainy night, Bashan; It is also a portrayal of the poet's feelings of being a stranger in a foreign land. Bashan, which refers to Shu, was still an undeveloped "wasteland" in Li Shangyin's time. Liu Yuxi, another poet in the Tang Dynasty, once lamented that "Bashan is a desolate land, which has been abandoned for 23 years". The autumn rain is continuous, the autumn night is long, the lonely and desolate land, the sadness of the poet's life experience, the feeling of wandering, the feeling of missing, just like the rain in the evening, the autumn water in the pool, trickling down and overflowing my heart.
At this point, the biting autumn wind and autumn rain seem to have soaked the back of the paper and cooled into the bone marrow. However, at this time, the poet changed his pen: "* * Why cut the candle at the west window, but talk about the rain at night." A warm and romantic picture immediately replaced the bitter wind and rain. The "late rain" here is a faint memory in imagination-that foggy and cold autumn night seems to be just to set off the flickering red candle under the west window; The patter of rain on Bashan seems to be accompanied only by whispers. The same evening rain suddenly became so affectionate and unforgettable. Maybe happiness is like this. It needs comparison and reflection. Can you present happiness to the greatest extent by comparing past misfortunes or sorrows? In a word that people often say now, it is "recalling bitter thoughts is sweet". And Li Shangyin here, it is with his wife * * * in the west window when cutting candles, snuggling together to watch the rain. The poet wrote such a poem, in fact, looking at the happiness of that era at this time, because the rain in the evening has not changed from the background of reality to the background of memories. He just imagined and dreamed that in the near future, he could look at this time so happily. But even if it is just a distant happiness, the poet has been immersed in some kind of happiness. Bashan in the night and autumn water in the pond are also painted with a layer of poetic beauty.
It has been verified that this poem was written by the author when he entered the Dongchuan provincial government of Liu Zhongying from July to September in the fifth year of Dazhong (AD 85 1 year). At this time, the poet's wife Wang Shi died (Wang Shi died in the summer and autumn of Dazhong five years). Because of this, some people think that this poem was given by the poet to his friend in Chang 'an, not his wife. However, Li Shangyin went to Zizhou and his wife died in the summer and autumn of the fifth year. Even if Wang's death came first and Yishan's poems came last, it was entirely possible in the era of traffic jams and poor information at that time. If this speculation is true, then this note to a friend in the north on a rainy night is really a sad work. If the poet's distant vision of happiness in Rain at Night fails to settle in reality after all, what kind of pain does it end in? We don't know all this today, but when we read this poem again today, will we be moved by such a distant scenery? On the one hand, heaven and man are separated forever, on the other hand, they are still looking at each other affectionately. Are their thoughts more profound and real than those of modern lovers in that age when news is hard to pass, in that day when life is like death?
We don't know whether the poet got the happiness he expected, and he didn't explain it. However, his poems at least describe the possibility of expecting happiness even in the sadness of the rainy night.