Original poem:
"Farewell to Brother"
The clouds are beginning to rise on the farewell road,
The leaves are sparse in the pavilion.
The people you complain about are like wild geese,
they don’t fly in a single line.
Author: Tang Seven-year-old girl.
There is very little information about this poem, and it can only be found in "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty". The author is introduced as "the woman in Ruyi", and her real name, date of birth and death, and where No one has been able to verify it, and they can only rely on the annotations in "The Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty". "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty" writes: "The woman is from Nanhai... Empress Wu summoned her and ordered her to send poems to her brother, and she responded accordingly." From this, it can be roughly inferred that the poet is from Nanhai, and this poem came from the era of Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty.
Perhaps it was truly a gift from time to time. A seven-year-old girl, facing Empress Wu and the ministers in the hall, responded to her call and wrote a poem. Her mood was so lifelike and the number of words was so frugal that future generations would have to look up to her. . Let’s analyze this poem first.
One: Deep Love
The first level: "Farewell" and "Li Pavilion" are equivalent to the post station and a place for farewell and farewell in ancient times. Point out the location, imply the event, and let the emotions unfold; "the clouds begin to rise" means either early morning, evening, or the sky opens after rain. But all scenery language is also a language of love, a double entendre, and also refers to the "beginning of sorrowful clouds" in the heart. "The leaves are sparse", combined with the "wild goose" that the poet associates with the scene in the next sentence, it should be in a season of bleak autumn wind. The autumn wind is strong and the yellow leaves are falling. The fallen leaves in front of the "Li Pavilion" are swept away by the autumn wind and gradually become sparse. They are really desolate and heavy.
Second level: The ancients had the custom of breaking willows to send each other off, which embodies the custom of "staying" in "willow". So, what if the leaves here are willow leaves? There are constantly people saying goodbye in front of me, so the willow branches are broken and gradually become scarce. One willow branch means one heart! And now, even though there are few willow branches, she still wants to break another branch and give it to her brother. How can anyone bear the melancholy in this? At this point, the feelings have been further sublimated.
The poet stood quietly, watching his brother go away and away, and the sound of horse hooves was finally blocked by the overlapping mountains. There was even more self-pity and regret for life and fate in my heart. "The geese that complain about the people are not the same as each other, and they do not return together." The migration of geese always occurs in groups, coming together and returning together. But what about people? Due to the constraints of the environment and conditions, I could not go with my brother. When the brother left and the sister stayed, we were left alone, and we could no longer be close to each other. This is really sad! Moreover, we can make two analyzes from the word "return". One is: the sister is at home and the brother is leaving. Then, the word "return" here means "coming out together and returning together". Most of the poet's thoughts are placed on his brother, and he is concerned about his troubled life and misfortunes; one: both of them are away, Either living with someone else, or living in a foreign country (I personally think it may be that his brother sent the girl to the palace as a maid, or something else. Then he sent it to his brother. This may be more appropriate.). At this time, the elder brother set off to return to his hometown, leaving his sister alone. At this time, he missed his hometown and relatives, and lamented that his body is like a duckweed and his life is like a cicada's wings!
Two: Simplicity
The deep friendship, like complaining or crying, is fully integrated between the lines. There are only a few words in the whole poem, only twenty-two words. The frugality of the words impresses others. The title "Farewell Brother" points out the main theme and sets the tone of the whole poem, which is to bid farewell to the brother. As for the various situations speculated above, they are all explained, leaving a lot of room for imagination. Compared with this, the later great poet Li Bai's "Send off Liu Ershiyu and the sole judge to the Anxi shogunate", "Send off the brother Shan's father Bo Ning to take photos of the Song Dynasty city lord Bo to Guo Nanyue Bridge, but returned to Qixia to have a drink as a gift" The titles of many such poems are greatly eclipsed. The first and last couplets indicate the location and approximate time, exaggerating the farewell scene. The melancholy and parting feelings in my heart are vividly reflected on the paper, surging like a river. But only ten words are used; the neck and tail couplets are also ten words, highlighting "wild goose", "a line" and "return", which once again sublimates the feelings to a very high level, from farewell to the appreciation of life. The sighs and questions about life experience, love is long and paper is short, and ink is cherished like gold.
Three: Exquisite
Jiang Yan later said in "Farewell", "The only thing that makes people feel sad is farewell." From ancient times to the present, farewell poems have always been Psalms account for a considerable proportion, and each has its own style in expression techniques. And what about this one? We also do a brief analysis. "Farewell" and "Le Pavilion" form an antithesis, one chant and three sighs. Among the words "Frugal as Gold", this can be regarded as a splash of ink and exaggeration. The purpose is to set off the mood with the scene and pave the way for the next two sentences. Moreover, the poet is good at selecting special scenes: "Farewell Road", "Liting Pavilion", "Clouds", "Leaves", etc., to hide the sadness of separation. Immediately afterwards, the pen made a sharp turn, using the "montage" technique in the movie to focus the camera on the "geese" in the sky. Of course, this may be fictitious writing. The characteristics of "goose" are associated with people, and the two are closely connected to form a sharp contrast, which generates sadness. And it has been elevated to a higher level. It also portrays the whole poem as a meaningful picture for readers, which is imprinted in our minds. Its artistic conception is profound, the space is wide, and the eyes are full of desolation, the heart is full of sadness, and the belly is full of melancholy. It really has to be said that this is the sublime part of the poet. Moreover, the poet was seven years old and a woman. In a society that despised women in ancient times and always said that "a woman's lack of talent is a virtue", it is really puzzling and surprising that she can use such artistic skills so well.
Let’s go back to the whole poem. The whole poem is full of deep feelings and every word is exquisite. The language is simple and clear as words, and the artistic conception is superb. Such poems are really rare in ancient Chinese poetry. No wonder some people call her a "child prodigy" and a "wonderful woman". She is well-deserved for her emotions and reasons.