If Kangqiao, which is free of dust, clear and elegant, is a spiritual pure land that the poet is looking for outside the modern life of "high buildings and fast cars" in a foreign country, then the Shihu Hutong of Xidan Archway in Beijing No. 7 is an oasis of life that the poet found in the stormy ancient capital of his motherland. Here "breeds" the "poetic life" that poets pursue and yearn for: there is no fighting and indifference between people, only warmth and friendship; there is no noise and complexity of the outside world, this is a peaceful and harmonious world , the soul can rest; the poet can sigh gently, express his sentimental sadness, temporarily forget the gains and losses of honor and disgrace, and immerse himself in the pastoral mood. It is like a "paradise", quiet, warm, harmonious, and full of infinite poetic interest. The poet embodies his ideal life - "poetic life" in "No. 7 Shihu Hutong".
The poem "No. 7, Shihu Hutong" is written using metaphorical techniques. In the first stanza of the poem, the poet gives his own interest to every scene and thing in the small garden. He not only personifies them as "Teng Niang", "Huai Weng" and "Tang Gu", but also gives them human character, The expressions and movements - "good at smiling", "prepared for", "hugging", "waiting", "singing charmingly"; he wrote about the affection between them, and wrote that they were as harmonious and harmonious as a family, making the whole small garden filled with joy. It has a joyful atmosphere and is full of vibrant poetic interest. Singing about warmth and friendship is one of the important features of Xu Zhimo's poetry. The poet once sang in a poem that "the most precious thing in life is love." The "poetic life" that the poet longs for cannot be without love and warmth. This is his life belief and the realm of life that he pursues and yearns for. In the second stanza of the poem, the poet describes another life situation to the readers. Different from the joyful atmosphere of the previous section, this section depicts a deep and quiet scene after the rain. Everything is so tacit and comfortable. The soul is no longer frightened and restless in the noisy and swaying wind and rain, but is happy. Contently enjoying the peace and tranquility after the heavy rain. This is not a real life situation, but a "vague dream" described lightly by Xiao Yuanting, an ideal "illusion". This "vague dream" actually embodies the ideal life that the poet longs for, that is, he hopes to find a quiet and peaceful place outside the loneliness and anxiety of modern life, and to integrate harmoniously with nature. This is also a realm of life pursued by poets. The third stanza of the poem is different from the other stanzas. It is not a description of a life scene or a natural scene. It expresses a kind of sentimental feelings, sentimental and melancholy thoughts. It can be said that this is the emotional and spiritual world of the poet. disclosure. Sighing sadly for a fallen flower or leaf; in the dead of night, watching the moon slide down in the sky, listening to the music blown by the cold wind from afar, and faintly savoring the loneliness, silence and desolation in my heart. This feeling and state of mind are not shared by ordinary people who are busy working for a living all day long. The quiet and beautiful small garden not only becomes a small world for the poet to express his feelings and reveal his inner emotions, it is also a "happy place" where people can free themselves from the fetters of life and repay their innocence and nature. The fourth section of the poem describes It is such a picture of life that is full of hearty and heartfelt laughter, and overflowing with straightforward innocence and forgetful happiness. So far, the poem "Shihu Hutong No. 7" has described four poetic life situations to readers. From it, readers can not only see the poet's so-called ideal life - "poetic life", but also see a transcendent person. , the image of a poet who pursues tranquility, harmony and spiritual life.
One characteristic of Xu Zhimo's poetry is that he likes to use "straight to the point" starting sentences to set the tone and atmosphere of the whole poem. The poem "No. 7, Shihu Hutong" begins with the line "Our small garden sometimes ripples with infinite tenderness". From the beginning, the reader is brought into a unique poetic context and narrative tone: the poet endows the small garden with The garden uses human character and emotion to describe pastoral life situations in poetic and fairy tale-like language, and the narrative tone is soothing and gentle. Based on this context and tone, each stanza of the poem adopts roughly the same syntax and composition, and rhymes with roughly the same rhyme. The formal structure is neat and regular, but the rules are flexible and changeable. Looking at the whole poem, the poet does not describe a picture or create an atmosphere flatly, but intercepts several silhouettes of daily life and depicts four different situations. These different situations are placed in different poems. In the context and narrative tone, a three-dimensional picture of a small garden is successfully formed, which has the effect of combining meticulous painting with light and color induction.