The original text and pinyin of the five poems of Ba Shang are as follows:
1. Original text:
People in the past have gone on yellow cranes, and there are still yellow cranes here. building. The yellow crane is gone and never returns, and the white clouds remain empty for thousands of years. Qingchuan is full of Hanyang trees, and the grass is luxuriant and Parrot Island is green. Where is the Rimu Township Pass? The smoke on the Yanbo River makes people sad.
2. Vernacular translation
The immortals of the past have flown away on the Yellow Crane, leaving only the empty Yellow Crane Tower. The yellow crane left and never came back. For thousands of years, he only saw white clouds. The green trees of Qingchuan Pavilion in Hanyang are clearly visible, and even Parrot Island with lush grass can be clearly seen. The dusk is gradually rising, where is my hometown? The hazy mist on the river makes people feel more worried.
3. Appreciation
This poem is a masterpiece of nostalgia for the past. The poet climbed up to the Yellow Crane Tower, a historic site, and scanned the scenery before his eyes. He became emotional at the scene, and his poems burst out from his mouth and spread thousands of miles. It is both natural and majestic, and full of character.
Although the poem has no rhythm, its syllables are clear and not difficult to pronounce. It was done effortlessly and in one go, and it has become a treasure that has been admired by all ages. Legend has it that Li Bai climbed up to this building and was greatly impressed when he saw this poem.
It is said: "There is a view in front of me but I can't understand it. Cui Hao wrote a poem on it." Yan Canglang also said that the seven-character rhymed poems of the Tang Dynasty should be the first. This shows that poetry is precious and natural, even metrical poems are all like this. There are many poems about the Yellow Crane Tower in the past dynasties, but Cui Hao's poem with seven rhymes is said to be the best. Please see how he wrote: People in the past have gone by Yellow Crane, and the Yellow Crane Tower is vacant here.
The yellow crane will never return, and the white clouds will remain empty for thousands of years. Qingchuan is full of Hanyang trees, and the grass is luxuriant and Parrot Island is green. Where is the Rimu Township Pass? The smoke on the Yanbo River makes people sad. The main reason why "Yellow Crane Tower" has become a masterpiece that has been praised throughout the ages lies in the aesthetic connotation of the poem itself.
The first is the beauty of the artistic conception of images and the combination of reality and reality. The poem starts from the origin of the name of the building, borrows the legend to start writing, and then develops. The immortal straddling the crane is originally nothingness, but now it is nothingness. It is said that it "gone and never returned", which means that time has passed and the ancients cannot see it.
The immortal has gone and the building is empty, leaving nothing but the rest. The white clouds in the sky, lasting for thousands of years, can express the vastness of worldly affairs. These few strokes of the poet's words express the common feelings of people who climbed the Yellow Crane Tower in that era, with a vast spirit and sincere emotions.
The second is the majestic and colorful painting beauty. The presence of paintings within poems has always been considered an artistic standard for landscape poetry, and the Yellow Crane Tower has also reached this sublime realm.
Incorporating the legend of an immortal riding a crane, the first couplet depicts a close-up view of the Yellow Crane Tower, implying the towering and ethereal situation of the tower resting on the mountain and facing the river. The couplet depicts the distant view of the Yellow Crane Tower in the lyrical lament that "the Yellow Crane is gone and will never return", showing the grandeur of the tower towering into the sky and surrounded by white clouds. The wandering eyes of the couplet on the neck directly outline the bright sun scenery on the river outside the Yellow Crane Tower.
The last couplet lingers and whispers, indirectly showing the hazy evening scene below the Yellow Crane Tower and on the river. In the whole picture shown in the poem, the close-up, distant, day and evening views of the Yellow Crane Tower appear alternately. The changes are wonderful and the atmosphere is magnificent;
In contrast to each other, there are the immortal Yellow Crane and the famous tower. The scenic spot, blue sky and white clouds, clear rivers and sandbanks, green trees and grass, sunset over the river, are vivid and colorful. The whole poem is full of poetic meaning and full of painterly beauty.