Knock chess pieces and drop snuff.

make an appointment

Zhao Shixiu [Song Dynasty]

Mei Huang Shi, every family was flooded by rain, and the pond was covered with green grass and frogs.

It's past midnight, and the invited guests haven't come yet. I tapped the chess pieces bored and shook the wick of an oil lamp.

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During the rainy season, every household is shrouded in smoke and rain. On the edge of the grassy pond, there are bursts of frogs.

It's past midnight and the guests haven't come yet. I beat the chess pieces bored and watched the snuff fall one by one.

"It rains at home in Huangmei season." The beginning of the work first points out the season, "Huangmei season", which is the rainy season in the south of the Yangtze River when plums are yellow and ripe. Then write the characteristics of "Huangmei season" with the words "it rains at home", and describe a misty and rainy poem and painting in the south of the Yangtze River, where every family is shrouded in drizzle.

"The grass pond is full of frogs." In this sentence, the poet compares the unique beauty of silence in Jiangnan summer night with the grass pond and the deafening frog sound shrouded in misty rain. The more frogs come and go, the more deafening it is, and the more it highlights the silence of summer nights. This is a common technique used to express silence in literary works.

"I can't make an appointment at midnight" makes the title of the poem clear, and also makes the description of the scenery and sound in the above two sentences in place. Use "dating" to point out that the poet had "invited guests" to visit, and "after midnight" showed that the host was patient and anxious. What he expected was the guest's knock on the door, but all he heard was the sound of rain and frogs, which showed the author's anxiety.

"Knocking on chess pieces and landing on snuff" is the poetic eye of the whole poem, which makes the whole poem shine at once. The poet waited for no guests, and the wick gradually burned out. When the poet is bored, he subconsciously knocks on the chessboard and knocks down the snuff with the sound of chess. The poet knocked on the chess pieces quietly and looked at the table full of snuff. Although his friends have been waiting, he is impatient, but the poet's mood is out of waiting at this moment, intoxicated with the scenery outside the window, integrated into it, and found that unique joy. The whole poem not only describes the poet's scene of waiting for a guest to visit on a rainy night, but also writes the feeling of disappointment that the guest has not arrived, which can be described as both form and spirit. The whole poem has a strong flavor of life and gets rid of the habit of carving, so it is beautiful and can be recited.