At the end of the year
Du Fu
At the end of the year, we are guests from far away, and we still use troops on the border.
Smoke and dust invade the snowy ridge, and the drums and horns stir the river city.
Heaven and earth bleed every day, who will be invited to the imperial court?
Ji Shi dared to love to death? Loneliness is terrifying!
Appreciation
AD 763 was the first year of Emperor Guangde’s reign in the Tang Dynasty, when Du Fu was 52 years old. This year, he was first in Zizhou. When he heard that the government troops had defeated the rebels, he wrote the famous "Hearing that the government troops took over Henan and Hebei". Then he wanted to return the capital, and soon he wanted to go east to Wu and Chu. During this period, he went to Langzhou (now Langzhong, Sichuan). Here, he heard that Tibet had conquered Songzhou, Weizhou and Baozhou and warned Chengdu. When the author was in Zizhou that year, he felt that the national defense was empty and there was no one in the government. Although he had great ambitions, he was not reused, so Du Fu, who was worried about the country, wrote this poem "Sui Duo" to express his feelings. It can be seen from this that the author opposes unjust foreign wars and firmly advocates resisting foreign aggression.
The first couplet explains that the poet was living in a foreign country, and at the end of the year, he heard news of foreign invasion from the border. The poet who has just experienced the Anshi Rebellion hopes that the country will be stable and the people can live and work in peace and contentment. However, the internal worries have not yet completely subsided, and foreign troubles are coming one after another. Therefore, the seemingly plain narrative tone of the first couplet contains the heavy mood of the poet who is concerned about the country and the people! "At the end of the year, we are guests from far away." The first sentence brings us a sense of desolation: at the end of the year, we can't reunite with our families, but we are still wandering in a foreign land. There are still soldiers on the border, and the word "return" contains a lot of helplessness, worry and anger.
The chin couplet closely follows the first couplet, specifically describing the vastness of the Tibetan military force, using "smoke and dust" and "drum horns" to represent the war. The smoke of the war enveloped the snowy mountains, and the sound of drums and horns also shook the river city. The word "criminal" is a "movement", indicating the momentum of the enemy's invasion. It describes the strong impact the poet received after hearing the invasion of foreign enemies, and contains the poet's sincere feelings for the people of the country."
The neck couplet first writes about the disasters that war has brought to people. It is bleeding every day. It is really terrible. Then it expresses its own lament: "Who will ask for the imperial examination?" Here, the story of the last army of the Han Dynasty to ask for the imperial examination is used. After the Anshi Rebellion, the country was in chaos. , now faced with the invasion of powerful enemies, we feel that there were no people in the imperial court who could risk their lives for the country.
The last couplet starts with a rhetorical question: "Ji Shi dares to love death?" "If I can help the country, do I dare to begrudge my death? A person who truly cares about the country will not care about personal life and death, honor and disgrace. In order to save the country, the nation, and the people of the world, he will only risk his own life and devote himself to the bloody rain of protecting the country. In the fishy wind, it hints at his determination to go to the disaster to serve the country.
The last sentence, "lonely and frightened," points out the poet's state of mind at this time, but it shows us a man with lofty ideals who has no way to serve his country. The word "lonely" has two meanings: one is that the poet is living in Langzhou alone at this time, and he is really lonely; the other is that the poet has a desire to serve the country, but he has no way to show it, so he can only be lonely. A poet who cares about the country and the people, even though he is over fifty years old, he still has a "strong heart" beating in his chest! The word "surprise" made his "strong heart" to serve the country suddenly after hearing the invasion of foreign enemies. With a sudden movement, his passion was clearly revealed.