The heart of the banana has not yet unfolded, and the buds of the lilac are clustered like knots; they are both blown by the spring breeze, but they are in the same heart in different places, and they are both worried about not being able to meet each other.
[From] Li Shangyin's "Gift on Behalf"
"Gift on Behalf" is a work proposed on behalf of others. There are two poems with this title, this is the first.
Basho does not expand: Basho’s banana heart does not expand.
Following the spring breeze: Basho and lilac face the cool spring breeze at dusk (the poem uses banana as a metaphor for the lover and lilac as a metaphor for the woman herself).
Lilac knot: This refers to the buds of lilac, clustered like knots. The stamens of the lilac flower have not yet unfolded. It is used here to symbolize the unresolved melancholy.
The plantains are not unfolded and the lilacs are not opened. This is an objective natural scene, and there is no need to worry about it, but in the eyes of the protagonist, it is full of sadness. This is because there is sorrow in the heart, so it is difficult for the banana leaves to unfold; because the belly is full of hatred, it is difficult for the petals to bloom. People are extremely sad, so it hurts their feelings, and the sadness that touches their eyes adds to the hatred of leaving others. These two lines of poetry empathize with the scenery, use the scenery to describe the feelings, use the metaphors exquisitely, and integrate the symbolic symbols into one.
The poet uses unopened plantains and solid lilacs to describe melancholy, which not only makes abstract emotions visible, tangible, and concrete, but also makes this metaphor have a certain symbolic meaning. The stagnant plantains and solid lilacs are not only the triggers of the protagonist's melancholy; as images of the poem, they also become the carrier and symbol of his melancholy.
These two sentences have a beautiful artistic conception and swaying music. They express the wandering between two places with "one kind of lovesickness and two places of leisure and sorrow" as a long-lasting interest and full of emotions. Lu Minggao of the Qing Dynasty said: "The beauty lies in the 'sameness', and the beauty lies in the 'separate'. What others can't say enough, I can sum it up in one sentence." What I admire is the endless rhyme of these two lines of poetry.