Ambition
Tang Dynasty: Wang Ji
Donggao looked at the dusk, and what to rely on when he moved.
The trees are all in autumn colors, and the mountains are only covered with sunset.
Herdsmen drive calves back, hunting horses return with poultry.
We look at each other but have no acquaintance, and we sing and pick up the flowers for a long time.
Translation
At dusk, I stood at the head of Donggao Village and stared, wondering where to turn.
Every tree is dyed with autumn colors, and the mountains are covered with the afterglow of the setting sun.
Herdsmen drive their cattle home, and hunters return on horseback with their prey as they wish.
We were relatively silent and didn’t know each other. I screamed and sang and I really wanted to live in seclusion in the mountains!
Appreciation
This poem is about the autumn scenery of the mountains and fields. The whole poem reveals the loneliness and depression in the description of the bleak and quiet scenery, and expresses the feelings of melancholy and loneliness.
In the first couplet, there is emotion in the scene and there are people in the scene. Let's take a look at this picture first: In the evening, the sun sets in the west, and the sky is full of haze. The poet climbs up to Donggao alone and looks far into the distance, wandering around, silently reciting the verses in Cao Cao's "Dan Ge Xing" - "Walking around the tree three times, there is no branch to lean on." "Twilight" tells the time and exaggerates the atmosphere, "Donggao" points out the location, and "Where to rely on when I move" expresses the state of mind, which is complicated and depressing. These two sentences may seem like plain narratives, but they clearly explain the author's thoughts and set the tone of the entire poem.
The chin couplet describes the quiet scene of the autumn mountains and forests, further exaggerating the author's loneliness and depression from the front. The poet sketched a picture of the autumn evening scene for us based on what he saw. The endless woods are dyed with the haggard and yellow color of late autumn, and the rolling mountains are dyed with a bleak twilight under the reflection of the setting sun. The seemingly quiet and open scene actually gives people a sense of desolation and twilight.
The neck couplet describes people's activities in the evening, which reflects the poet's depressed and lonely mood. The poet describes to us a dynamic scene of rural people returning from grazing. The shepherd boys herding cattle sang folk songs and happily drove the cattle back home. The hunters rode their horses, shouted loudly, and returned with satisfied prey. What a peaceful scene, what an intoxicating picture. But the excitement is theirs, and the poet has nothing but loneliness and loneliness.
In the last couplet, I finally could no longer suppress my inner emotions and expressed my feelings directly. The poet recovered from the beautiful and lively scene and returned to the original state of mind, adding a feeling of loss, loneliness, depression and melancholy. There is no acquaintance or friend around the poet, and no one can share this loneliness. He has no choice but to bring in Boyi and Shuqi who have gone far away. The poet sang the song "Plucking Wei" to express his ambition to live in seclusion in the mountains and forests.
People who are familiar with Tang poetry may not think this poem has any special benefits. However, if you follow the order of poetry history, starting from the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen Dynasties in the Southern Dynasties, and suddenly read this poem "Ambition", you will be applauded for its simplicity. Most of the poetry styles of the Southern Dynasties are luxurious and gorgeous, like a jeweled lady wrapped in silk and satin. Walking out of the crowd of ladies, you suddenly meet a village girl in a Jingchai sarong. Her simple beauty without makeup will produce a special charm. Wang Ji's "Ambition" has such a simple benefit.
The genre of this poem is five-character poem. Ever since Shen Yue and others applied the knowledge of rhythm to poetry creation during the Qi Yongming period of the Southern Dynasty, the new genre of rhythmic poetry has been brewing. By the time of Shen Quanqi and Song Zhiwen in the early Tang Dynasty, the rhythmic poetry had been finalized and became an important poetry genre. Wang Ji, who was more than sixty years earlier than Shen and Song Dynasties, could already write mature rhythmic poems such as "Ambition", which shows that he is a person who has the courage to try new forms. The first and last couplets of this poem express emotions, and the middle two couplets describe scenes. Through the repetition of emotion-scenery-emotion, the meaning of the poem deepens. This is in line with the basic structure of rhythmic poetry.