Hard-to-go poetics

literal translation

The golden cup was filled with precious wine, and the jade plate was filled with delicious food worth ten thousand yuan, but I stopped to throw chopsticks and didn't want to drink it. I drew my sword and looked around, at a loss.

I want to cross the Yellow River, but the ice and snow have frozen the river. I wanted to climb Taihang Mountain, but the snow filled the mountain and blocked the road. When Lu Shang lived in seclusion, he often fished in Bixi; Before Yi Yin was hired, he dreamed of passing the sun by boat.

It's hard to go, it's hard to go! How many forks in the road, where is my way? One day, I can ride the wind and waves, hang Yun Fan high and stride forward in the sea!

Profound meaning

Out of deep affection for Li Bai, out of regret that such a genius was abandoned, my friend spared no expense to hold a banquet to bid it farewell. Li Bai, who is naive in drinking, will certainly "drink 300 cups at a time" because of this fine wine, delicious food and the hospitality of his friends.

However, this time he picked up the cup and pushed it away. Pick up chopsticks, but put them down. He left his seat, drew his sword, looked around and lost his mind. The four continuous movements of stopping, throwing, pulling and caring vividly show the inner depression and emotional agitation.

Then the two sentences are followed by "hollow" and "difficult to walk" is written in front. The poet used "ice blocking the river" and "snow covering the mountain" to symbolize the difficulties and obstacles on the road of life, which has a comparative meaning. A man with great political ambitions was called to Beijing and was lucky enough to get close to the emperor, but the emperor could not appoint him. He was expelled from Chang 'an in disguised form by the "reward for returning to the mountain". Isn't this just like the Yellow River encountering ice and Taihang Mountain encountering snow?

However, Li Bai is not that kind of cowardly character. From the beginning of "drawing a sword and looking in all directions", it shows that he is not willing to be depressed and will continue to pursue it. "I would sit on a fishing rod and lie lazily by the stream, but I suddenly dreamed that I was driving a boat and sailing towards the sun.

In a daze, the poet suddenly thought of two figures who did not go well politically at first, but made great achievements in the end: one was fishing in Panxi at the age of 80 and met King Wen; One is Yi Yin. Before he was hired by Tang, he dreamed that he was sailing around the sun and the moon. Thinking about the experiences of these two historical figures increased the poet's confidence.

Extended data:

Its creative background is difficult to go.

In the first year of Tianbao, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai was called to Beijing as the Hanlin. Li Bai is an active member of the WTO. He is ambitious and wants to do great things like Guan Zhong, Sean and Zhuge Liang. However, after entering Beijing, it was not reused by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, but was vilified and excluded by powerful ministers. Two years later, he was "repaid" and expelled from Chang' an in disguise.

Poetry of Tang and Song Dynasties holds that the three capitals of Difficult to Go were written when Tianbao was away from Chang 'an for three years, Zhan 'ai's poetry was the title of the year, and Pei Fei's poetry was an example of Taibai Yuefu. Yu Xianhao's "Li Baiji" thinks that the first two songs were written around the 19th year of Kaiyuan, Li Baichu entered Chang 'an to pursue fame and gain, and the third song was written in an unknown year.