Sing a word and break a few stems. What does this sentence mean?

"Sing a song and break a few stems." It means that writing a poem takes a long time to choose the right words, or even to break a few beards (many scholars in ancient times had beards, and twisting them was also a habitual action when some people thought about problems). This shows the pain of writing poems and sentences. ? Now this quip is usually quoted to praise the poet's creative spirit of Excellence.