1. Assumptions and findings
"When you are old" is a hypothesis of time. I was only twenty-nine years old when I wrote this poem, and "you" refers to Maud Gong who was only twenty-seven years old. However, this assumption is concrete, because the image of "bald head", "sleepy head" and "dozing by the fire" has brought us the moment of "getting old". It is hazy, hazy and almost still, just like a painting on the wall, but it is so vivid and shocking.
Standing on the other side of time, "recalling the softness of the past eyes", looking at yourself in the past, what do you see?
How many people love you when you are young and happy,
Worship your beauty,
True or not,
Only one person loves you.
The pilgrim's soul,
Love your aging face
Wrinkles of pain
Time left a heavy shadow, destroyed the face, took away the youth, and carved painful wrinkles on the aging face. However, time also verifies and creates love. Only by standing at such a long and "old" distance can we see the youth in the distance clearly. Only through time can love be rock-solid and last forever.
The whole poem is narrated in the second person, but we can still feel the existence of the poet. In the first and second sentences, the poet's tone is gentle and restrained, as if he were an old friend, standing in front of you, please take out this poem and quietly reveal a secret.
When you appeared, you were still confused and contented "sleepy by the fire". It is because of your years of ignorance and indifference (until "take out this poem") that the poet forbeared and restrained.
Step 2 fade and hide
The third section reveals that the balance between your indifference and the poet's forbearance has been broken. The fire is blazing (we can imagine two painful old faces by the fire! ) You bow your head sadly. There is still no mention of the poet, but we can imagine his double pain when watching "you" show pain.
The saddest sentence is "telling the story of the disappearance of love gently", and the tone of the whole poem falls to the bottom. Time creates love and takes it away. Time has proved everything, revealed the truth and fooled you. And you, only sigh, sadness and mumbling. At this point, we seem to feel the disillusionment of "you create, you destroy" and "everything is vanity and chasing the wind"
However, the next sentence is a strange peak. "On the mountain overhead, it walked slowly, hiding its face among the stars."
Love didn't disappear, destroying the body, but hiding itself on the mountain overhead, where the gods lived, and among a group of stars.
"Star" and "God", this height will remind us of eternity, immortality and sacredness, and at the same time, it will be cold. Being with gods and stars gives love eternal, immortal and even sacred meaning. It is in this sense that this poem is extraordinary, which makes people suddenly realize that "love" itself contains such awesome height and noble quality, thus truly becoming the eternal swan song of love.
But it is not so far away from the world and unattainable-because it "hides" itself and "walks slowly". "Hiding" is out of pity. It doesn't want to sting the soul that has fallen in the years with its own light. "Walking slowly" is because of nostalgia for the past and reluctance to leave. This kind of "hiding" and "pacing" also makes us feel that even at that height, the poet is still devoted, thus offsetting the chill brought by "high place".
sublimate
Chen Yinque, a person of A Qing Dynasty, said that good poems are gloomy. There are many love poems and gloomy poems in the world. However, it is rare for Ye Zhi to write such gloomy love poems.
Depression comes from extreme emotional sadness. ...