The two sentences mentioned with the word "cuckoo" in "The Road to Shu is Difficult" are: I also heard Zigui crying about the moon at night, worrying about the empty mountains. Zigui is a cuckoo bird, which is the most common in Shu. Its song is sad, like a cloud, "It's better to go back."
Excerpt:
When will I return from my journey to the west? Afraid of the unreachable rocks. But I saw mourning birds calling ancient trees, and male and female flying around the forest. I also heard Zigui crying about the moon at night and worrying about the empty mountains.
Translation:
My good friend, when will you return from your journey to the west? The steep rocky path of Shu Road is really difficult to climb! I saw the sad bird whining and crying on the ancient tree; the male and female flew together among the dense trees. On a moonlit night, I heard the sad cry of the cuckoo again, echoing in the empty mountains, making people endlessly sad!
Author: Li Bai of Tang Dynasty
Poetry Appreciation
The poet depicts the majestic and magnificent scenery of the Qinling Mountains with his vertical and horizontal opening and closing and unpredictable brushwork. He also deliberately exaggerated the high dangers of the Shu Road, which naturally led to concerns about the crisis-ridden political situation.
In the poem, lines such as "The sword pavilion is majestic and Cuiwei, one man is in charge of the pass, and ten thousand men are not able to open it. Those who are guarding or robbing relatives will turn into wolves and jackals", etc., predicting that the feudal town would rebel due to danger and would have an impact on the rule of the Tang Dynasty. The author issued a serious warning. In the early years of Tianbao, it is commendable that the poet was able to see through the appearance of peace in the world at that time and be keenly aware of the danger of separatist feudal towns.