Selected Poems of Du Fu Sunset Du Fu Series: Selected Poems of Du Fu | Selected Poems of Du Fu Selected Poems of Du Fu Sunset 1
Original text The cows and sheep have been down for a long time, and each has closed the wood door. The wind and moon are clearing at night, and the mountains and rivers are no longer my hometown. The stone spring flows through the dark wall, and the grass dew drips from its autumn roots. When the head is white and the lamp is bright, there is no need for flowers to embers.
Notes 1 Sunset: In the autumn of the second year of Dali (767), Du Fu lived in Kuizhou and wrote this poem. 2 Flower embers: Flowers bloom on the wick, which is said to "forecast a good omen" in folklore.
Translation The cattle and sheep have long returned from the fields, and the firewood doors of every household are tightly closed. There is a cool breeze at night and the bright moon hangs high in the sky. The scenery here is peaceful and charming, but it is a pity that it is not the scenery of my hometown. The quiet spring water flows on the stone wall, and the dewdrops on the autumn night condense on the grass roots. The bright candlelight shines on my head of white hair, making me feel even more desolate. At this time, the wick is blooming, what good news can it predict?
Appreciation This poem was written when the poet lived in Kuizhou. The sentence "The cows and sheep come down for a long time" is an adaptation of a sentence from the "Book of Songs": "As the sun sets, the sheep and cattle come down." The word "for a long time" describes the tranquility of the mountain village in the evening. And "Everyone has closed their doors" reminds people of the joyful atmosphere in every household. These two sentences faintly reveal the poet's homesickness. Then, the poet described the scenery of mountains and rivers with cool evening breeze and bright moon. Gazing at the beautiful scenery in front of him, the poet's nostalgia for his hometown was touched, and his thoughts drifted back to his distant hometown: What has become of his hometown now? Is the scenery there still the same as when I left? Although the scenery here is pleasant, it is not my hometown after all! This couplet goes from scenery to emotion, expressing the poet's deep homesickness. It was late at night, and the poet still couldn't calm down. He wandered on the mountain road with a strong sense of nostalgia. The cold moonlight shines on the mountains and rivers, the deep spring water flows slowly on the stone walls, and the crystal dewdrops condense on the grass roots, like the tears of a wanderer. This desolate artistic conception makes people feel sad. Finally, the poet turned around and returned to his residence, sitting alone with a lamp on, but his heart became more and more sad. The poet has been wandering in the remote land of Bashu for nearly ten years. Now he is old and sick, his hair is white and his teeth are missing. But the time to return home is far away. Looking at the colorful "flower ashes" in front of him, he is not only Instead of feeling happy, I felt even more desolate. The last two sentences express the poet's bitterness and miserable mood of wandering in a foreign land in his later years, which is sigh-inducing. Wang Fuzhi commented on Du's poems in "Jiang Zhai Poetry Talk": "Du Ling is the only one who can make love language implicit through turns." This statement just explains the artistic characteristics of this poem. The poem does not directly express the poet's sad mood of missing his hometown in his later years, but only euphemistically expresses it at the end, which can be described as implicit and thought-provoking.