pure wine costs, for the golden cup, ten thousand coppers a flagon, Yupan Jane is ashamed and straightforward. I fling aside my food-sticks and cup, I cannot eat nor drink, I pull out my dagger, I peer four ways in vain. I would cross the Yellow River, but ice chokes the ferry, the Taihang Mountain will be covered with snow.
I would sit and poise a fishing-pole, lazy by a brook, but I suddenly dream of riding a boat, sailing for the sun. It is hard to go, it is hard to go, many roads, where is Ann now? I will ride the wind and break the heavy waves some day, and then set the cloudlike sail and cross the sea.
This is the first of three "it is hard to go" written by Li Bai. Judging from the content, this group of poems should have been written when Li Bai left Chang 'an in Tianbao Sanzai (744).
The first four sentences of the poem are about friends who, out of deep friendship for Li Bai and out of regret that such a genius was abandoned, spared no expense in setting up a banquet to bid farewell to it. Li Bai, who is "addicted to alcohol and naive", would definitely "drink 3 cups at a time" in normal times because of this delicious wine and food and the hospitality of his friends. However, this time he took the glass and pushed it away. Picked up chopsticks, but left them behind. He left his seat, pulled out his sword, looked around and lost his mind. The four continuous movements of stopping, throwing, pulling and caring vividly show the inner depression and emotional agitation.
The next two sentences are followed by "vacant heart", with "it is hard to go" written on the front. The poet used "ice blocking the river" and "snow covering the mountain" to symbolize the difficulties and obstacles on the road of life, which has the meaning of comparison. A man with great political ambitions was summoned to Beijing and was lucky enough to be close to the emperor, but the emperor could not be appointed. He was "rewarded with gold and returned to the mountains" and was expelled from Chang 'an in disguise. Isn't this just like meeting the Yellow River with ice and the Taihang Mountain with snow? However, Li Bai is not that kind of weak character. From the beginning of "drawing the sword and looking around", it means that he is unwilling to be depressed and will continue to pursue it. "I would sit and poise a fishing-pole, lazy by a brook, but I suddenly dream of riding a boat, sailing for the sun." In a daze, the poet suddenly thought of two figures who didn't go well politically at first, but finally made great achievements: one was Lu Shang, who was fishing in Panxi at the age of 9 and met King Wen; One is Yi Yin, who dreamed that he sailed around the sun and moon before he was hired by Tang. Thinking about the experiences of these two historical figures has increased the confidence of the poet. "it is hard to go, it is hard to go, many roads, is it safe now?" The encounter between Lu Shang and Yi Yin certainly increased his confidence in the future, but when his thoughts came back to the present reality, he once again felt that the road of life was difficult. Looking forward to the future from the banquet, I only feel that the road ahead is rugged and there are many astray. Where is the way to go? This is the feeling in the sharp and complicated contradictions once again. But Li Bai, who is stubborn and confident, never wants to show his discouragement at the farewell party. His strong demand for active use of the world finally made him get rid of the anguish of wandering again and sang a strong voice full of confidence and prospect: "It's time to ride the wind and waves, and set my cloudy sail straight and bridge the deep, deep sea!" He believes that although there are many obstacles ahead, one day, as Zong Yi said in Liu Song Dynasty, he will ride the long wind and break the waves, hang up the Yun Fan, cross the sea and reach the ideal shore. This poem, with fourteen sentences and eighty-two words, can only be regarded as a short story in the seven-character line, but it has a long momentum pattern. One of the important reasons is that it reveals the ups and downs and complex changes of the poet's feelings in a hundred steps. At the beginning of the poem, "golden wine" and "jade plate is precious and ashamed" make people feel as if it is a happy banquet, but then two details, "stop drinking and throw chopsticks" and "draw your sword and look around", show the strong impact of emotional waves. In the middle four sentences, I just lamented "ice jam in Sichuan" and "snow all over the mountain", and suddenly I wandered for thousands of years, as if I saw Lu Shang and Yi Yin suddenly being reused by the monarch from humble status. The poet's psychological disappointment and hope, depression and pursuit alternate rapidly. "it is hard to go, it is hard to go, many roads, is it safe now?" The four short-paced, jumping sentences are completely inner monologues in an anxious state, forcing Xiao to convey the complex psychology of going back and forth without evidence and continuing to explore and pursue. At the end of the sentence, after repeated twists and turns, the realm suddenly opened up and sang a high and optimistic tone, believing that one's ideal and ambition will come true one day. Through the ups and downs of such feelings, it not only fully shows the dark and dirty political reality's repression of the poet's grand ideal ambition, but also reflects the poet's intense inner depression, anger and injustice caused by it, and at the same time highlights the poet's stubbornness, self-confidence and his persistent pursuit of ideals, showing the poet's powerful spiritual strength trying to get rid of his depression.
This poem is influenced by Bao Zhao's Quasi-it is hard to go in theme and expression, but shine on you is better than Blue. Both of their poems reflect the feudal rulers' repression of talents to a certain extent, but due to the reasons of the times and the poet's spiritual temperament, Li's poems are more profound and intense, and at the same time, they also show a positive pursuit, optimistic self-confidence and tenacious adherence to the ideal character. Therefore, compared with Bao Zuo, the ideological realm of Li Shi is higher.