Early departure for Baidi City
Li Bai
The White Emperor’s farewell speech was among the colorful clouds,
Thousands of miles of rivers and mountains are returned in one day.
The apes on both sides of the strait can’t stop crying.
The boat has passed the Ten Thousand Mountains.
[Note]
1. Baidi: Baidi Mountain in the east of Fengjie County, Sichuan Province. There is Baidi City on the mountain, located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
2. Jiangling: Jiangling County, Hubei Province, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
3. Cry: cry.
[Brief Analysis]
This is a seven-character quatrain that has been passed down through the ages.
In the spring of 758 AD, Li Bai was implicated for participating in the Yongwang Li Lin shogunate affairs and was exiled to Yelang (now western Guizhou Province).
He was pardoned only after traveling to Baidi City. On the way back to Jiangling, he wrote this poem to express the poet's joyful mood.
"Chaoci Baidi Caiyunjian", the first sentence describes the poet's recollection, indicating that the time for sailing is morning and the location is Baidi City
. "Caiyunjian" refers to the height of Baidi City. The colorful clouds are in perfect harmony with the poet's joy at being pardoned. "The mausoleum of a thousand miles of river can be returned in one day", the second sentence expresses the poet's wishes and describes the speed of the boat. It only takes one day to reach the tombs of a thousand miles of river. The poet used
an exaggerated technique to describe the rapidity of the Yangtze River. At the same time, he also expressed the poet's mood of "returning to his heart like an arrow."
The third and fourth sentences vividly describe the situation of the fast boat. "The apes on both sides of the strait can't stop crying, and the light boat has passed thousands of mountains."
The cries of the apes on both sides of the strait haven't stopped yet, but the light boat has already sailed through thousands of mountains and ridges. In these two sentences, the poet first writes about the sound of apes
, and then writes about the light boat. He uses the word "Ji" to connect "cannot hold back his cry" and "crossing the Ten Thousand Mountains", and uses the echo of the sound of apes to set it off
The speed of the light boat is a very clever rhetorical device. The poet's eagerness to return eastward overflows with the bright rhythm of the poem.
The whole poem describes the scene and expresses emotion, describing the light and bright scenery, expressing the light and joyful feeling, reaching the point where the scenes blend together