Yellow Crane Tower
Cui Hao [Tang Dynasty]
The fairy of the past has flown away by the yellow crane, leaving only an empty Yellow Crane Tower.
The yellow crane never revisited earth, there have been no long white clouds for thousands of years.
Every tree in Hanyang has become clear due to sunlight, and Nautilus Island is covered with sweet grass.
But I looked home, and the twilight was getting thicker. The river is shrouded in mist, which brings people deep melancholy.
Vernacular translation:
The immortal of the past has flown away with the Yellow Crane, leaving only the empty Yellow Crane Tower.
The yellow crane never came back. For thousands of years, people only saw white clouds floating in the sky.
The trees in Hanyang under the sunshine are clearly visible, and the green Nautilus Island is also clearly visible.
Twilight gradually spread. Where is my hometown? The misty waves on the river make people even more worried.
Comment on words and phrases:
Yellow Crane Tower: It was built in the second year of the Three Kingdoms (223). This is an ancient and famous building. Its former site is on the Yellow Crane Rock in Wuchang, Hubei, overlooking the river and facing Guishan across the river.
Ancient people: According to legend, in ancient times there was a fairy named Feiyi, who rode a crane to ascend to immortality here.
Youyou: Floating.
Qing Chuan: the mysterious river in the sun. Sichuan, plain. Vivid: clear and countable Hanyang: Place name, west of Yellow Crane Tower, north bank of Hanshui River.
Growth: describes lush vegetation. Parrot Island: It is located in the southwest of wuchang city, Hubei Province. According to the records of the later Han Dynasty, some people presented parrots here when their ancestors were the satrap of Jiangxia, so it is called parrot island.
Xiangguan: hometown.
Smoke wave: a foggy river.
Creative background:
The specific creation time of this poem cannot be verified. The Yellow Crane Tower is named after the Yellow Crane Mountain in Wuchang. It is said that Feiyi rode a crane here. This poem is written from the origin of the name of the building. The poet boarded the Yellow Crane Tower and looked at the scenery in front of him. He was so excited that he wrote this poem.
Appreciation of works:
This poem is full of scenery before writing, and lyrical after writing, which is natural. Even a generation of Li Bai, who is known as the "Poet Fairy", can't help admiring again and again, and thinks it is better to stop writing for a while. To this end, Li Bai also sighed with regret and said: "There is no good scenery in front of me, and Cui Hao wrote a poem on it!"
The first half of this poem, put in order, and the second half, is about what I saw and felt in the building, and the homesickness caused by the grass and trees overlooking Hanyang City and Nautilus Island from upstairs. This is put first and then collected. If you just let nature take its course, don't accept it, don't stick to the rules, and don't return to the meter, then it's not seven tones, but seven ancient ones. This poem seems to be divided into two parts, but in fact, the text is always focused from beginning to end, with only one breath in the middle. This seemingly continuous connection is also the most organized from the perspective of the beginning, inheritance, transformation and combination of rhythmic poetry. When discussing that the second couplet of legal poems should be attached to the first couplet, Yuan Yang wrote several poets and legalists: "This couplet should be broken (the first couplet), like a dragon ball, and should be firmly adhered to." This is the case in the first four sentences of this poem, which tells the legend of a fairy riding a crane. Couplets and puzzles embrace each other and are integrated. Yang Zai also said that the "turn" of the neck couplet: "Avoid the meaning of the former couplet, and change it, such as thunder breaking the mountain, the viewer is amazed." The metaphor of thunder is intended to show that there should be a sudden change in the first five or six sentences, which is unexpected. At the turning point of this poem, the style turns from right to right, and the realm is completely different from that of the former couplet, which just meets this requirement of the law. The sudden death of a native Syrian yellow crane gives people a feeling of unknowability. Suddenly it became a grass tree in Qingchuan, and I can vividly see the scene in front of Manchuria. This contrast can not only dye away the sadness of those who climb the building and overlook, but also make the literature change. It is also in line with the law of poetry to let poetry return to the invisible state at the beginning to cope with the "combination" in front, such as the tail of a leopard.
It is precisely because of its superb art and great success that this poem is regarded as the swan song of the Yellow Crane Tower, which is understandable.
Later, Li Bai went upstairs, also full of poetry. When he found Cui's poems in the building, he repeatedly shouted "wonderful, wonderful!" " According to legend, Li Bai wrote four "doggerel poems" to express his feelings: "Hit the Yellow Crane Tower with one punch, and kick over Parrot Island with one foot. There is a scene in front of him in which Cui Hao wrote a poem. " I stopped writing. Young Ding laughed at Li Bai: "The Yellow Crane Tower is still intact, but it can't be beaten." Li Bai also explained in a poem: "It's really a disaster. It was only because the yellow Crane Immortal cried to the Jade Emperor that the Yellow Crane Tower was rebuilt, and the yellow Crane Immortal returned upstairs. " It's really serious. That's great. Later generations built a pavilion on the east side of the Yellow Crane Tower, named Li Bai's Writing Pavilion, to show his ambition. On the double eaves, it re-entered the Tao and became a place for Yan You. In fact, Li Bai's love for the Yellow Crane Tower is hard to find. He is passionate and even called it "one guest in Qingyun, three guests in Yellow Crane Tower". Mountains and rivers depend on humanities, and the name of Yellow Crane Tower is more prominent.
About the author:
Cui Hao (704-754), a poet in the Tang Dynasty, was born in Bianzhou (now Kaifeng City, Henan Province). In the 11th year of Kaiyuan (AD 723), Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was a scholar, and he was an official at Taibu Temple, serving as a foreign minister of Sixun. The most famous is his poem The Yellow Crane Tower. It is said that Li Bai wrote an inscription for it, and once praised that "there is a scene in front of me, and Cui Hao wrote a poem on it". There are 42 complete Tang poems. He is honest, frank and quick-witted. His works are passionate and magnificent, including Cui Haoji.