Du Mu's Drinking in Early Winter Night
I am like Ji An, the governor of Huaiyang County, who is often ill. I have a glass of wine to relieve my sorrow. When I am in a foreign land, I only bring first frost with the sleeves of the Qing Dynasty, oil lamps and candles.
Build a pile of snow with pear blossoms, who will lean on the railing next year.
In the second year of Huichang (842), Du Mu was forty years old. He was pushed out by Li Deyu, then prime minister, and was released as the secretariat of Huangzhou. Later, he was transferred to Chizhou and Zhou Mu. This poem may have been written in Zhou Mu.
Huaiyang refers to Ji 'an in the Western Han Dynasty. Ji An, who dared not speak out, remonstrated many times and was released several times. When he was the magistrate of the East China Sea, he was cured even though he was ill. Later, he worshipped him as the satrap of Huaiyang. With tears in his eyes, he said to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, "I have the heart of a dog and a horse, and now I am ill, so I can't do anything for the county" (The Biography of Han Ji An). He asked to stay in the capital, but was turned down. Ji An finally died in Huaiyang. The poet compared himself to Ji An, implying that he was excluded from Beijing because of Geng Jie's outspoken remarks. The word "Huan" in "My Courtship" refers to wine, and the word "drink" is hidden in the poem, which shows that the poet's depression is hard to get rid of, and he can only drown his sorrows by drinking tonight to get a moment's comfort. This sentence is painful and tactful. The second sentence, "Candle Frost on Guest Sleeves", further expresses the frustration of being a guest in a foreign country. At the end of the cold weather, drinking alone by candlelight, hurting myself and not telling me when I was angry, made me feel lonely and sad. "Frost" means wind, frost and dust, which coincides with "early winter" and implies the author's lonely mood. "Hakka Sleeve" has been homesick, and "first frost invasion" has added to the sufferings of immigrants. Only these four words sum up many years of official career, which contains how much bitterness! "Candle tray" is related to "night drinking" in the title, which is true. A few words outline the image of a poet who drinks poison to quench his thirst by candlelight and is lonely and depressed.
The first two sentences are about indoor drinking, and the third sentence is suddenly inserted into the scene: "Building a pile of snow under the pear flower", which is quite ingenious. It seems that the poet can't solve his worries by drinking alone. So he stopped drinking and stood on the railing, only to see the north wind blowing and the snow falling at dusk. The snow under the steps was like white pear flowers. It seems that the scenery here is purely written, but in fact, the feelings are born of the scenery, the feelings are in the scenery, and the pregnancy is extremely rich. It's lonely and painful for the poet to drink alone under the candle. Now the endless night snow has deepened his sense of boundless life experience, and he can't help thinking that he doesn't even know where he is at this time next year! "Who will lean on the railing next year?" This question reflects the poet's uncertain hardships, his yearning for his hometown, his indignation at his unexpected career and his hidden pain in his hard-won ambition, which is very thought-provoking.
The first sentence of this poem uses allusions, points out the reasons for acting alone, reveals the repression of feelings, and has the function of covering the whole article. The second sentence is about drinking at night, which further sets off the sad feelings in the narrative. Putting the third sentence aside and using the scenery as a cushion not only makes the whole poem make waves, but also makes the lament of the fourth sentence more heavy and powerful. Finally, it comes out in question language, which embodies the above three statements, and makes me feel depressed and sigh, making the ending like "ringing the bell" and the sound is endless. Ming Hu Zhenheng said: "Mu Zhi's poems are full of sadness, emotion and cadence, especially good at this." I have pondered this poem many times.