Purpose: It expresses the author's loneliness, hesitation and depression, and at the same time reflects the author's dissatisfaction and helplessness with reality.
From: "Ambition" is a work by Wang Ji, a poet in the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties. Original text:
Ambition
Tang Dynasty: Wang Ji
Donggao looks forward to the evening, and what to rely on when moving.
The trees are all in autumn colors, and the mountains are only covered with sunset.
Herdsmen drive calves back, hunting horses return with poultry.
We look at each other but have no acquaintance, and we sing and pick up the flowers in our hearts for a long time.
Translation:
In the evening, I stood in Donggao and looked into the distance. I was hesitant and unsure of where to turn.
The woods are all dyed with autumn colors, and the mountains are covered with the afterglow of the setting sun.
The herdsmen drove the cattle back home, and the hunters passed me with their prey.
We were relatively silent and didn’t know each other. I screamed and sang and I really wanted to live in seclusion in the mountains!
Extended information:
Creative background:
After Wang Ji entered the Tang Dynasty, he served as secretary of the province and waited for the imperial edict to go to the province. Soon he resigned and returned to his hometown. In Zhenguan, he came out as Tai Lecheng and returned home. This poem was written when the poet resigned and lived in seclusion in Donggao (in today's Hejin, Shanxi).
Appreciation:
This poem describes the autumn scenery of the mountains and fields. The scenery is sentimental, simple, fresh, smooth and natural. It tries to correct the shortcomings of Qiliang's colorful and dull style. It is one of Wang Ji's representative works. . The first couplet is narrative and lyrical, with the following six sentences in total.
The first sentence casts a thin twilight on the middle two couplets; the second sentence echoes the last sentence, making the whole poem enveloped in a touch of sadness. The jaw couplet describes the quiet scene of the autumn field in the dusk, which is intertwined with each other. The mountains and trees are covered with autumn colors and a touch of sunset.
The depression and silence triggered the poet's feeling of hesitation and helplessness. The neck couplet depicts the moving scenery of the autumn fields, showing the scene of shepherds driving calves back and hunting horses and poultry on the background of mountains, trees, autumn colors and sunset. This scene is typical of the leisure time in the mountains and fields in autumn.
Since it is return and return, the movement from far to near can also be vaguely seen. It would be great if these shepherds and hunters were old acquaintances and could laugh and talk with them endlessly (Tao Qian, "Migration")!
However, this is not the case, which leads to the last couplet: We have no acquaintance, so we can only sing long songs to express our depression. Wang Ji admired Tao Qian, but he was not as able to get comfort from pastoral life as Tao Qian, so his pastoral poems showed hesitation and melancholy.
This poem washes away the extravagant carving and decoration habits of the Southern Dynasties, but develops the new form of martial arts that has gradually become rhythmic since Yongming of the Southern Qi Dynasty. It is already a relatively mature five-meter poem, which has a great influence on the form of modern poetry.