First of all:
"Spring View" was written by Du Fu in March of the second year of Emperor Suzong's reign in the Tang Dynasty (757), looking at the dilapidated scene of Chang'an during the occupation, and wanting to miss his wife and children living in the state. A five-character poem, expressing the poet's feelings of worrying about the country and homesickness.
Detailed analysis:
In June of the first year of Emperor Suzong's reign in Tang Dynasty, the Anshi rebels captured Chang'an. In July, Du Fu heard that Tang Suzong was located in Lingwu (now Lingwu County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region), so he settled his family in Qiang Village in Zhouzhou (now Fuxian County, Shaanxi Province), and went to Lingwu to join Suzong alone. Unfortunately, he was captured by the Anshi rebels on the way and taken to Chang'an. Because of his humble official position, he was not imprisoned, but was forced to stay in the occupied capital. During this period, he wrote many poems about his experiences in the occupied areas, such as "Sorrow for the King and Grandson", "Sorrow for the River Head", "Sorrow for Chen Tao", "Sorrow for Qingban" and "Spring Hope". "Spring Hope" has eight lines in total. The first four sentences are about witnessing the collapse of the Spring City, full of sighs; the last four sentences are about thinking about the sorrow of relatives, and are full of detachment. The whole poem is written with hatred in every word and pain in every sentence, calm and subtle, natural and profound.
"The country is broken by mountains and rivers, and the city is full of spring vegetation." The first couplet immediately touches on the topic, saying what we see in spring. The capital (Chang'an) fell, the city was in ruins, but the mountains and rivers remained the same. Although the country has not changed, the scene is completely different: weeds everywhere and dense forests. The beginning of the poem is like a strong wind and a flash flood. The word "broken" is shocking, and then the word "deep" is filled with sadness. "Poet's Jade Chips" compiled by Wei Qingzhi of the Song Dynasty said: "The ancients wrote poems, and the meaning was more valuable than the words, making people think about it. ... Among modern poets, Du Zimei is the most poet-like." "The mountains and rivers are there, and there is nothing left. "The grass and trees are deep, and it is clear that there is no one there." ("Yosou Poems") This is indeed a concise and connotative way of writing. It only writes about the overgrown grass and trees on the mountains and rivers, which shows the desolation and desolation after the disaster. Chang'an was originally a luxurious and prosperous city, but now there is only vegetation. In previous years, "the weather was new on March 3rd, and there were many beauties by the waterside in Chang'an." I saw them with "a strong and sincere attitude, fine texture and even flesh and bones. Their embroidered clothes glowed in the late spring, and they looked like golden peacocks and silver unicorns." (Du Fu's "Beauty's Journey") Now, the joy of travel by princes, ministers, concubines and concubines has disappeared, and even the hard work of the common people, farmers and woodcutter has disappeared. There is no longer the grand occasion of tourists like ants and crowns like clouds. In that bustling market, bustling with people and flowing goods, you can see the thin willows and new cattails are still green, and the palaces in the past have thousands of locked doors. The poet puts rich meaning into the word "deep". The deep vegetation not only indicates that there are few human traces, but also indicates that it has been abandoned for a long time. The poet clearly writes about the scenery here, but actually writes about his feelings, placing his feelings on things and his feelings on the scenery. "There are many antitheses in five characters of the Tang Dynasty", this couplet is ingenious, mellow, natural and thought-provoking. "National destruction" and "city spring" have opposite meanings. Generally speaking, "national destruction" usually involves broken walls, broken bricks, and tiles. However, the "city spring" rich in business forms a sharp and strong contrast with it. "The country is broken" is followed by "mountains and rivers are here", which is poetic and unexpected; "city spring" is followed by "deep grass and trees", which is straightforward and consistent with the actual situation. However, "Mountains and rivers are there" is a literal description of the real meaning, while "the grass and trees are deep" is a real description of the imaginary meaning. The real meaning is that only the mountains and rivers remain unchanged, but the virtual meaning is that the grass is lush and the people are sparse, things have changed and people have changed. Moreover, the "city" in "Chengchun" is the "guo" in "guopo", but "guo" is first used to indicate that the city is Chang'an, the capital of the country, "po" is used to explain the historical background, and "spring" is used to indicate the season. Taken together, the two sentences mean that you can see the city of Chang'an that has been conquered in the spring. The mountains and rivers are covered with vegetation, and the ground is full of hazelnuts. However, the verses sung by poets can often stir people's hearts and arouse people's imagination. Therefore, Hu Zhenheng in the Ming Dynasty praised this sentence very much and said: "'The country is broken by mountains and rivers, and the city is full of spring vegetation.' "Continue." (Volume 9 of "Tang Yingui") This first sentence is indeed the crown of the whole poem, and it is worthy of being the pen of Shenlaijing.
"The flowers shed tears when I feel the time, and the birds are frightened when they see each other." This is a detailed description following "The grass and trees are deep in the city in spring", from a panoramic view of the city's vegetation to a close-up shot of flowers and birds. . In the past, poetry critics had different opinions on the understanding of these two sentences. The focus was whether it was flowers, birds or people that "splashed tears" and "shocked". "Yuan Sou's Poems": "Flowers and birds are usually entertainment things. If you see them and weep, and if you hear them and you are frightened, you can know the time." (Volume 6 of "Poet's Jade Chips") He believes that this sentence is about the poet's weeping and harmony. shock. Shi Buhua, a native of the Qing Dynasty, said: "I feel the flowers splashing with tears when I feel the time, and I hate the other birds that are frightened. This is the way to double the writing in the verses." ("Qing Shi Hua? Xian Maid's Poems") In this regard, the modern Zhou Zhenfu explained: " Doubling the writing method has the effect of emphasis. Du Fu's "Looking at Spring" "I shed tears when feeling the flowers, and feel sad when I hate the other birds." Flowers and birds are originally lovely, but the poet is still sad when facing them. To highlight the depth of grief, the double writing method "("Poetry Examples", page 126) is also described as the poet's tears and surprise, which is actually the same as the statement in "Poet's Jade Chips". We believe that Shi Buya's "double writing method" means that flowers splash with tears and birds are frightened. If ruthless flowers and birds are like this, wouldn't it be even worse for sentimental people? This means doubling the expression. Talking about flowers and birds crying and being frightened is a way of personification. This is common in ancient poetry. Originally, "grass has no intention of forgetting worries, and flowers have no intention of lasting joy" (Yu Xin's "Ode to a Small Garden"). Now it is said that the flowers shed tears and the birds are startled, which makes it even more vivid and touching. What causes flowers to shed tears, and what causes birds to be frightened? The poet explains that it is because of "feeling for time" and "hate to say goodbye" that they are moved.
In fact, it is the poet who feels so sad to say goodbye. When he sees the dewdrops on the flowers, it feels like the flowers have tears in the corners of his eyes. When he hears the birds chirping, it feels like the birds are screaming. This is when the poet looks at things with affectionate eyes, and the things are also filled with emotions. Writing about people's feelings with the feelings of things is euphemistic and tortuous, yet deep and sincere. At the same time, these two sentences are also "intertextual and expressive of each other". When the flowers feel sad, they also hate to say goodbye. The contents of the first four sentences of the poem are all unified in the word "look". The poet's vision ranges from far to near, from large to small, from mountains and rivers to grass and trees, to flowers and birds, and the vision also changes from the whole to the part, from chaos to clarity. Borrowing scenery to express emotions, seeing emotions from the scenery rather than directly describing the emotions. The emotions go from hidden to obvious, from weak to strong, advancing step by step, revealing layer by layer. From the changes in scenery and emotion, one can imagine that the poet slowly turned from looking up into the distance to bowing his head in contemplation, thus entering the second half of the poem - longing for his relatives.
"The war rages on for three months, and a letter from home is worth ten thousand gold." There has been war for three months, and the entire spring has been in turmoil. According to historical records, in January of that year, An Qingxu general Yin Ziqi attacked Suiyang and was defeated by Zhang Xun; in February, Li Guangbi and An Qingxu fought in Taiyuan and were defeated; Guo Ziyi and An Qingxu fought in Tongguan and were defeated; in March, Yin Ziqi fought again He led troops to invade Suiyang, An Shouzhong led troops to invade Hedong. There is really no end to fighting and war. Du Fu was captured by the rebels in August of the previous year. He was trapped in Chang'an for the whole winter and spring. He always missed his wife and children living in the state, so he said that "a letter from home is worth ten thousand gold." In the autumn of the year before he wrote "Spring View" (the first year of Zhide), Du Fu wrote "Moon Night" in Chang'an: "Tonight, I can only look at the moon in my boudoir. I feel sorry for my children from afar, but I still remember Chang'an. The fragrance. The mist and clouds make my hair wet, and my clear jade arms are cold. When I lean on the empty canopy, my eyes will dry with tears." It expresses the poet's affection for his family. The poet was naturally overjoyed when he received a letter from home during the chaos of war, reporting that his family was safe. The value of letters from home lies in the fact that they come with deep affection and brave the flames of war, which also touch the poet's suspense about his family. The poet cherishes "letters from home", which also includes his concern for news from the North. In Chang'an, he often hoped that Wang Shi would pacify the Central Plains. For example, the concluding sentence of "Sorrowful Chen Tao" is "The people of the capital are crying to the north, watching the arrival of the officers and soldiers day and night", and the concluding sentence of "Aijiangtou" is "The city is full of dust on horseback at dusk, and they want to go to the south of the city and look to the north of the city." They all wrote about looking to the north. Now when I look forward to spring, I feel sad to say goodbye. Naturally, I look forward to my family as well as my officers and soldiers.
"The hairpin is shorter when the white head is scratched, and the lust is overwhelming." The last couplet ends with the poet looking back, showing the poet's sorrowful heart. The meaning of these two sentences is: the more the white hair is scratched, the less it becomes, and even the hairpin can no longer be inserted. In ancient times, men used hairpins to tie their hair to their crowns, hence this saying. Du Fu was 46 years old when he wrote this poem. Generally speaking, when you are still in your prime of life, your hair will not turn gray. However, because of the difficult and miserable life, the poet aged prematurely. It may also be that "there is love and knowing the hometown, who can not change." (Xie "I climbed three mountains at night and looked back at the capital") Because of longing, the thick black hair turned white. This is called "the white hair cannot be tweezed out, but the roots are in the sorrowful intestines". Du Fu's hair was indeed gray at this time. In his "Northern Expedition" written in the autumn of that year, he also said, "I fell into the dust of the barbarian, and all my hair was gone." His hair was completely gray. He himself also felt aging. He described himself in "Aijiangtou" as "the old man in Shaolingye swallowed his voice and cried", and he already called himself an old man from the countryside. The white hair is already very short, so it is said to be "scratched even shorter", so short that it is so short that "you can't bear to wear a hairpin". "Tickling" the head is an action when suffering from sorrow, and short hair is a sign of the degree of sorrow. From this we can see a poet with sparse white hair standing at the head of the dilapidated Chang'an City, facing the vegetation everywhere, thinking about his relatives far away, crying and worried, how can this not make people cry! The last four sentences of this poem The sentence is triggered by the first half and further developed. From the scene in front, I write about my own feelings and describe my own shape. The poet looks at the spring scenery, longing for his family, looking forward to the officers and soldiers, and finally ends with the image of the looker, summarizing the previous feelings of feeling sad and reluctant to leave, and giving people a sense of reality. This is a method of expression that Du Fu is good at. For example, "Climbing the High" written in the autumn of the second year of the Dali Dynasty, the first part describes the experience of climbing high, and finally ends with the image of "hard work, hatred of the frost on the temples, and the turbid wine glass in the new pavilion"; "Climbing the Yueyang Tower" written in the winter of the third year of the Dali Calendar , I described what I saw when I climbed up the tower, and finally ended with "The soldiers and horses passed through the north of the mountain, and Pingxuan Tea Si Liu" was the finale. In this way, the scenery and emotions are more unified from what is seen to what is being seen, and the theme is deepened.