Sending the night rain to the north
Li Shangyin
You asked about the return date but it has not yet been announced. The night rain in Bashan swells the autumn pond.
Why should I cut off the candles from the west window and talk about the rainy night in Bashan?
This poem, "Ten Thousand Tang Dynasty Quatrains", is titled "The Night Rain Sends Nei", and "Nei" means "the wife" - his wife: It is now known that each version of Li's poems is titled "The Night Rain Sends to the North" , "North" refers to people from the north. It can refer to your wife or your friend. After research, some people believe that it was written after the death of the author's wife Wang, so it was not a poem "sent home" but a gift to friends in Chang'an. But judging from the content of the poem, it seems more accurate to understand it as "sending within".
The first sentence consists of a question and an answer. It pauses first and then turns. It is full of ups and downs and is very expressive. Translated, it is: "You asked me about the date of my return home; alas, the date of my return is not yet certain!" The sorrow of being detained and the pain of not being able to return have already emerged on the page. Next, I wrote about the scene in front of me at this time: "The night rain in Bashan fills the autumn pond." The sorrow of traveling and the pain of not being able to return, which have already appeared on the paper, are intertwined with the night rain, which is continuous and dense, pattering, and fills the autumn pond. , permeating the night sky of Bashan. However, these sorrows and sufferings only appear naturally through the eyes and prospects; the author does not say anything about sorrow or complain about the pain, but starts from the eyes and prospects, gallops his imagination, opens up a new realm, and expresses "What should we do?" Cut the candles from the west window, but tell me your wish when it rains at night in Bashan. The strangeness of its conception is truly surprising. However, when I put myself in the situation, I felt the sincerity and sincerity, and every word seemed to flow out naturally from my heart. The word "when" (when can it be possible), which expresses wishes, bursts out from the reality that "the return date has not yet been announced"; "***jian..." and "but words..." are A vision of future joy inspired by present misery. Looking forward to returning home, "*** cuts the west window candle", so it is hard to say how much I want to return home at this time. Looking forward to being reunited with his wife one day, but "but talking about the night rain in Bashan", at this time, "listening to the night rain in Bashan alone" without anyone speaking, it is also unknown. It is not difficult to imagine how depressed and lonely he felt when he cut a broken candle alone, stayed up late at night, and read a letter from his wife inquiring about his return date amidst the patter of autumn rain in Bashan. However, the return date was uncertain. The author transcends all of this to write about the future, hoping to catch up on everything tonight in the joy of reunion. Therefore, the joy of the future will naturally reflect the pain of today; and the pain of today will become the material for the night conversation in the future, adding to the joy of reunion.
The four lines of poetry are as clear as words, but they are so twists and turns, so profound and graceful, so subtle and meaningful, with endless aftertaste!