1. Understand the title
1. Some titles can reflect the main idea of ??the poem. For example, "Morning Journey to Shangshan" tells us that the content of this poem is in Shangshan, where the protagonist sets off early for a long journey. We can also see the general idea of ??this poem from "Viewing and Praying for Rain" and "Inscribed on Li Ning's Residence in Seclusion". Then we can roughly understand the main meaning of this poem based on the title.
2. Some titles can tell you the lyrical scope of the poem. For example, "Out of the Fortress", we can know that it reflects life on the frontier and expresses the patriotic feelings of making achievements and defending the country, or the sorrow of missing one's hometown. "Shanshan Sheep·Tong cares about the past", we can understand from the word "nostalgia for the past" that this poem is intended to lament the present, metaphorically describe the present, and satirize the present. The "Xiang of Shu" in the title of "Xiang of Shu" actually tells us that it is written about Zhuge Liang, but the main purpose is to use the ancients to write about himself.
2. Read good authors
Reading authors is to help us understand poetry. That is to say, we need to understand people and the world, and grasp the style of poetry. When we read the author, we can start from the background of his time, his attitude towards life, and his style to help us understand the poetry. For example, Li Bai is an outstanding representative of romanticism. His style is fresh and elegant. Some of his poems are praises of the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, such as "Looking at Lushan Waterfall". More of them express his unwillingness to collude with the rulers, such as "Sleepwalking Tianmu Yin Farewell" and "About to Enter the Wine", these can help us understand poetry. For example, from Du Fu's poems, we can associate it with the displacement of people caused by the Anshi Rebellion. These are beneficial to help us understand poetry.
3. Understand the poems
The poem itself is the focus of our reading. But we know that the language of poetry is highly condensed and general, and the requirements of ancient poetry are stricter. What should we do?
We might as well start with the analysis from the following aspects.
1. Grasp the meaning of words
Ancient poetry is written in classical Chinese. To correctly understand the meaning of poetry, you must pay attention to grasping the meaning of words. When it comes to word meanings in ancient poems, we should pay attention to phenomena such as ancient and modern synonyms, polysemy, and inflection of word categories.
(1) Different meanings in ancient and modern times.
For example, the word "poor" in "Poor on the third night of September" in "Dusk River Song" is a typical ancient and modern synonym. We can also think of the "poor" in the poem "Jia Sheng" The word “poor” in “pity” is the same as how we use it today.
(2) The word has multiple meanings.
The word "suitable" in "The Peacock Flies Southeast" has many meanings. Let's take a look at it. The "suitable" in "Shi Shi returns to the family" can be referred to as "getting married", while the "suit" in "Disposal suitable to brother's wishes" can only be referred to as "suitable". The "suitable" in "Shi De Fu Jun Shu" "Shi" means "just". Therefore we need to grasp it carefully.
(3) Flexible use of parts of speech.
In ancient poems, there are many phenomena of conjugating parts of speech. For example, the word "green" in "The spring breeze is green again on the south bank of the river" is an adjective used as a verb. We can find many examples of this in other poems.
(4) Word puns.
In Li Shangyin's "Untitled", the word "silk" in "Spring silkworms will not run out of silk until they die" is a pun on "si", which means that my feelings are like spring silkworms spinning silk, which will not be completed until death. .
Isn't the word "clear" in "The sun rises in the east and rains in the west" in Liu Yuxi's "Bamboo Branch Ci" a pun?
2. Master the sentence structure.
Due to the need for rhythm, ancient poetry often uses some special sentence patterns. Such as inverted sentences and omitted sentences. Let's try to analyze it:
"You should laugh at me if you are passionate, and you will be born early." We analyzed that it is an object preposition, and it should be "I should laugh at my passion."
"My clothes are wetted by the apricot blossom rain, and my face is not cold by the willow wind." The analysis shows that it is an inversion of subject and predicate. It should be "My clothes are wet by the apricot blossom rain, and my face is not chilled by the willow wind." "
"Stop and sit in love with the maple forest at night, the frost leaves are as red as the flowers in February." We can tell at a glance that "I love the maple forest at night".
The above analysis can be regarded as a representative of inverted sentences. Therefore, there are more omitted sentences in poems. Please look at the following:
"Two orioles sing in the green willows, and a row of egrets ascend to the blue sky." - Omit the preposition "yu".
"I hope you will pick more, this thing is the most lovesick." - Omit the object of picking "this thing - red beans".
"The homeland is three thousand miles away, and the palace has been in the palace for twenty years." - Omit the predicate verbs "away from" and "residence in seclusion".
"There is no colorful phoenix flying wings in the body, but there is a clear understanding in the heart." - Omitting the related words "Although... but..."
Through the above analysis, we can see that the omitted There are many forms, which can be subject, predicate, object, center, preposition, or related word. When we read the poem, we need to fill in the omitted content, so that we can better understand the poem.
In addition, ancient poems often use the superposition of nouns to form verses. Ma Zhiyuan's "Tian Jing Sha·Autumn Thoughts" "Withered vines and old trees are full of dim crows, small bridges and flowing water are home to people, and the west wind leads to thin horses on the ancient road. The sun sets in the west, and heartbroken people are at the end of the world.
"The first four sentences are all formed by the superposition of nouns, so when we analyze, we need to use our associative and imaginative abilities to analyze the multiple pictures in them, link them appropriately, and understand the rich implications. Wen Tingyun's "Shang Dynasty" The first two sentences of "Morning Journey to the Mountains" "The rooster crows in the Maodian, and there are frosts on Banqiao." "It presents us with a set of pictures. What should we do? Let's use our association skills.
3. Grasp rhetoric
Some rhetoric is often used in poetry to increase the charm and enrich the poetry. The emotion of poetry.
(1) Bold exaggeration
This kind of exaggeration does not simply magnify the original appearance of things, but blends the poet's beautiful feelings, such as Li Bai's "Sleepwalking in the Sky". "Lao Yin Farewell", the poem begins with the majestic appearance of Tianmu Mountain emerging from the sky, which contains the poet's admiration and yearning for Tianmu Mountain. Du Fu said, "I feel like I am not alone", which can be seen in modern poetry. , there are many examples of exaggeration, such as Mao Zedong's "The snowflakes on Yanshan Mountain are as big as mats". Then, we must understand it carefully when reading and interpreting the poem.
(2) Contrast techniques
Contrast is an artistic technique that puts two opposite things and two opposite situations in one poem for comparison. The use of contrast techniques can make the depicted image more vivid. The words contain a variety of contrasts, such as "the mountains are red" and "the river is green", mainly the contrast of color: "the eagle strikes the sky" and "the fish flies on the shallow bottom", "points to the mountains and rivers" and "inspiring words". " Mainly the contrast of actions: "Classmate boy" and "Wanhuhou" are explicit comparisons: "All kinds of frost sky compete for freedom" and the people's oppression (not stated in the words) are implicit contrasts. Li Yue's "Guanqi" "Rain": "The leafless soil of mulberry leaves produces smoke, and the flute greets the dragon in front of the temple. Several places in the royal family indulge in singing and dancing, as if the sky is cloudy and swallows the orchestra. "This is the wonderful use of contrasting techniques.
(3) Setting techniques
In addition, synaesthesia, metaphor, intertextuality and other rhetorical techniques are also used in poetry. When we appreciate it, It depends on the specific poem.
4. Read the annotations well
Annotations are a good supplement to the poems, and their function is to help us understand the poems. When we read, we must analyze the annotations. What role does it play? We can divide the annotations into the following categories:
(1) Introduce the historical background of the poem. Then when we read the poem, we can understand the theme of the poem based on the historical background of the annotation.
(2) Explain the author's situation. The author's situation is of great help to us in understanding the theme and style of the poem.
(3) Comment on the poem. It is often difficult for us to understand the poem, and we can bring it into the poem to understand the poem.
(4) Introduce allusions to the most familiar words in the poem. "Yong Yu Le·Jingkou Beigu Pavilion Nostalgia for the Past" has many references, and the annotations give a good explanation of it. We can grasp the poems well based on these.
When we read the annotations, We can make full use of annotations to grasp the poetry well, understand the main idea of ??the poetry, and serve our appreciation.
Above we briefly talked about the four aspects of understanding poetry, so when we appreciate it, in addition to understanding. In addition to poetry, we must also grasp images, understand artistic conception, explore techniques, and taste language, so that we can better appreciate poetry.