Summer quatrains is a five-character quatrain written by Li Qingzhao, a poet in the Song Dynasty. This is an ancient poem that satirizes the present and expresses grief and indignation. The first two sentences of the poem are surprising and straightforward, suggesting that people "live as outstanding people", make contributions to the country and serve the court; "Death" should also be a "ghost hero" to be a hero with indomitable spirit. Deep patriotism gushed out and shocked people. In the last two sentences, the poet satirizes the shameless behavior of those in power in the Southern Song Dynasty by praising Xiang Yu's tragic behavior. There are only 20 short words in the whole poem, but three allusions are used in succession, which can be described as meticulous words and full of sense of justice between the lines.
Summer quatrains
Live as a hero 1 and die as a ghost hero 2.
I still miss Xiang Yu 3 and refuse Jiangdong 4.
Poetry annotation
1, hero: a hero among people. Emperor Gaozu once praised the founding heroes Sean, Xiao He and Han Xin as "outstanding figures".
2. Ghost hero: the hero in the ghost. Qu Yuan's "Mourning the Nation": "When you die, your soul is a ghost."
3. Xiang Yu: At the end of Qin Dynasty, he stood on his own as the overlord of Western Chu and competed with Liu Bang for the world. In the Battle of Gaixia, he was defeated and committed suicide.
4. Jiangdong: the place where Xiang Yu fought with his uncle Xiang Liang.
Poetry translation
You should be born a hero and die a ghost.
To this day, people still miss Xiang Yu because he refused to drag out an ignoble existence and returned to Jiangdong.
works appreciation
This poem is correct and dignified, penetrating people's hearts and pointing to people's backs.
"Life is a hero, and death is a ghost." The first two sentences of the poem are in the air, like a close call, showing the heroic spirit of life and death to the readers, which makes people respect. These two poems are a kind of concise essence, a kind of verve bearing and a fearless attitude towards life. Because of its lofty realm and extraordinary momentum, it has become a famous sentence that has been passed down through the ages.
The last two sentences of the poem, "I miss Xiang Yu so far and refuse to cross Jiangdong", point out the reason. Xiang Yu's most heroic act was because he was "ashamed to meet his elders in Jiangdong" and gave up the spirit of temporarily avoiding the revival of Jiangdong and committed suicide. In the view of the author Li Qingzhao, the extraordinary heroism shown by this failure was particularly valuable when Song Ting crossed the river. The poet praised the spirit of "refusing to cross the Yangtze River" because of his deep feelings about current affairs and expressed his patriotic enthusiasm with historical facts. The word "up to now" skillfully links the ancient and the present, the history and the reality in time and space, and reveals the profound intention of satirizing the present through the ancient.
This poem clearly puts forward the value orientation of life: people should be heroes in life and contribute to the country; Even if you die, you have to die for your country and become a hero in ghosts. Patriotic passion, beyond words, was really inspiring. The rulers of the southern song dynasty ignored the lives of the people and only cared about their own escape; Abandon the rivers and mountains of the Central Plains and drag out an ignoble existence. Therefore, the poet remembered Xiang Yu and used Xiang Yu's feat to lash out at the shameless behavior of the rulers in the Southern Song Dynasty.