It comes from "Gu Lang Yue Xing" by Li Bai, a poet of the Tang Dynasty.
The whole poem is as follows:
When I was young, I didn’t recognize the moon, and called it a white jade plate.
I also suspected that the Yao Tai Mirror was flying in the white clouds.
The immortal has his legs hanging down, and the osmanthus tree is not round.
The white rabbit pounded the medicine and asked who he wanted to eat with.
The toad erodes its round shadow, and the bright night is gone.
In the past, Yi fell from the Nine Crows, and heaven and man were clear and peaceful.
The Yin essence has fallen into confusion, and it is not enough to understand it.
Worry comes as no surprise, and sadness destroys the heart and liver.
The translation is as follows:
When I was young, I didn’t recognize the bright moon in the sky, so I called it a white jade disk. I suspect it is a fairy mirror from Yaotai, flying above the blue clouds in the night sky.
The fairy in the moon lowered his feet? How round the laurel tree is in the moon! The White Rabbit made the elixir of youth. May I ask who to feed it to?
The toad eclipses the moon and becomes incomplete, making the bright moon dim. Hou Yi shot down nine suns, making the world clear and peaceful.
The moon is so confusing that it is not worth watching and I want to leave. I can't bear to leave with worries in my heart, and my heart is broken with misery and sorrow.
About the author:
Li Bai (701-762), also known as Taibai, also known as Qinglian Jushi. He is the most unique and greatest romantic poet after Qu Yuan. He is known as the "Immortal of Poetry" and is also known as "Li Du" together with Du Fu. His poems are mainly lyrical, showing his arrogant spirit of contempt for the powerful, expressing sympathy for the suffering of the people, and being good at describing natural scenery and expressing his love for the mountains and rivers of the motherland. The poetic style is majestic and unrestrained, the imagination is rich, the language flows naturally, and the rhythm is harmonious and changeable. It is good at absorbing nutrients and materials from folk literature and art, myths and legends, forming its unique magnificent colors, and reaching the pinnacle of poetry art in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. There are more than a thousand poems and articles in existence, including 30 volumes of "Li Taibai Collection".
Appreciation of the work:
This is a Yuefu poem. Bao Zhaoyou's "Long Moon Walk" is about a beautiful woman singing to the crescent moon. Li Bai adopted this title, so it was called "Gu Long Yue Xing", but he did not follow the old content. The poet uses romantic creative methods, through rich imagination, clever processing of myths and legends, and strong lyricism, to form a magnificent, magical and profound artistic image. The poem first describes the childish understanding of the moon in childhood: "I didn't know the moon when I was young, and I called it a white jade plate. I also doubted the moonlight, flying in the blue clouds." Using "white jade plate" and "Yaotai mirror" as metaphors, it is vivid The shape, color and moonlight are bright and lovely, which makes people feel very novel and interesting. The two verbs "hu" and "suspect" convey the innocence and innocence of children. These four lines of poetry seem to be written by hand, but they are full of emotion and inspiration. Then, he writes about the rising of the moon: "The immortal hangs his legs, how can the osmanthus tree be bunched up? The white rabbit pounded the medicine, and asked who he wanted to eat with?" Ancient mythology says that there are immortals, osmanthus trees, and white rabbits in the middle of the moon. When the moon rises, I first see the two feet of the immortal, and then gradually see the entire image of the immortal and the osmanthus tree, see a full moon, and see the white rabbit pounding medicine in the moon. The poet used this myth and legend to write about the gradually brightening and fairyland-like scenery when the moon was born. However, the good times did not last long, and the moon gradually changed from a circle to an eclipse: "The toad eclipses the round shadow, and the bright night is gone." Legend has it that the lunar eclipse is caused by the toad eclipsing the moon. The moon was eaten by the toad and was damaged, making it dark and unclear. "Yi has fallen into the clouds, and heaven and man are pure and peaceful", which expresses the poet's emotion and hope. Hou Yi, who was good at shooting in ancient times, shot down nine suns, leaving only one, which saved heaven and man from disaster. The poet introduces such a hero here, not only to lament the lack of such a hero in reality, but also to hope that there will be such a hero to wipe out the world. However, reality is reality after all, and the poet is deeply disappointed: "The Yin spirit has become confused, and it is not enough to see if it goes away." Since the moon has disappeared and is confused, there is nothing to see, so it is better to leave as soon as possible. This is a helpless solution. Not only is the worry and anger in his heart not relieved, but it is deepened: "Why does worry come? Sadness destroys the heart and liver." The poet couldn't bear to leave, and he was full of internal contradictions and worried.