Poetry Farewell to Dong Da
The author of "Farewell to Dong Da" is Gao Shi, a litterateur of the Tang Dynasty. The full text of the ancient poem is as follows:
Thousands of miles of yellow clouds and white sun, and the north wind blows the geese and snow.
Don’t worry, there will be no friends in the future. No one in the world will know you.
Notes on Dong Da
⑴Dong Da: refers to Dong Tinglan, a famous musician at that time. He ranked first among his brothers, so he was called "Dong Da".
⑵ Yellow clouds: Dark clouds in the sky are dark yellow under the sun, so they are called yellow clouds.
⑶Who: Which person. Jun: You, this refers to Dong Da.
⑷翮(hé): Bird’s wings. Piao Xi (yáo): fluttering. The six flying feathers are a metaphor for running around without results.
⑸Jingluo: Chang'an and Luoyang.
Bie Dong Da's Translation
The sky is covered with yellow clouds, the sun is covered in darkness, the north wind blows, and the wild geese fly south amidst the flying snowflakes. Don't worry that you will not have a confidant on your way forward. (With your piano sound and your musical accomplishment) who in the world will not respect you.
Appreciation of Farewell to Dong Da
In the farewell poems of the Tang Dynasty, those works that are desolate, lingering and lingering are certainly touching, but there is another kind of generous elegiac song that comes from the heart. Poetry, with its sincere friendship and strong belief, paints the willow color of Baqiao and the wind and rain of Weicheng with another bold and healthy color. Gao Shi's "Two Songs of Farewell to Dong Da" is an excellent example of the latter style.
These two farewell poems were written in 747 AD (the sixth year of Tianbao), when Gao Shi was in Suiyang, and the person he was bidding farewell to was the famous violinist Dong Tinglan. Hu music was popular during the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and not many people could appreciate ancient music such as the lyre. Cui Jue wrote in a poem: "The five notes on the seven strings are cold, and it has been difficult to know the music since ancient times. Only Henan Fangci Lv has always pitied Dong Tinglan." At this time, Gao Shi was also very frustrated and wandered around, often in poverty and lowly situations. . But in these two farewell poems, Gao Shi used a cheerful mind and a heroic tone to make his farewell words passionate and inspiring.
Judging from the content of the poems, these two works should be written as farewell works about the reunion between Gao Shi and Dong Da after a long separation. After a brief reunion, they went their separate ways. Moreover, both of them are in a difficult situation, and the intersection of poverty and poverty has its own deep emotions. The second poem can be understood in this way. The first song is broad-minded, writing an old tune about separation and sweeping away the lingering sorrow and resentment. It is majestic and heroic, comparable to Wang Bo's situation of "there are close friends in the sea, and the world is like a neighbor".
"Thousands of miles of yellow clouds and white sun, and the north wind blows the wild geese and snow." These two sentences use their inner truth to describe the mood of separation, so they can be profound; they use a broad mind to describe the scenery in front of them, so they can be tragic and magnificent . Zhao, that is, Zhaohuang, refers to the dim scenery when the sun sets in the west.
The setting sun, yellow clouds, and vast fields are a sight only seen in winter in the north. If this situation and scene were slightly sculpted, it would inevitably damage the momentum. Gao is suitable for this. It was dusk, and there was heavy snowfall. In the strong north wind, only wild geese could be seen in the distance, and cold clouds appeared and disappeared. It was difficult to help but feel the coldness of the sunset and the cold weather, which is what a wanderer would feel. It's hard to shed tears for such a talented person, but it's the only way to do it, so I know I can't be reconciled to it. The first two sentences describe the scenery and reveal the stagnation in the heart. Although it does not involve human affairs, it makes people feel like they are in the wind and snow, as if they heard the roar of strong men on the top of the mountain and at the end of the water. If you don't use all your strength here, you won't be able to see the wonderful turns in the following text, nor the tactful words, the good intentions, the deep friendship, and the sad farewell.
"Don't worry, you will have no friends in the future, and no one in the world will know you." These two sentences are a consolation to friends: Don't worry about not meeting a confidant here. No one in the world doesn't know you, Dong Tinglan! The words are so loud and powerful, full of confidence and strength in comfort, inspiring friends to work hard and fight hard. Be confident and powerful in comfort. Because he is a close friend, his speech is simple and forthright. And because of his decline, he takes hope as comfort.
"Liu Fei Piao Sheng felt sorry for himself and left Beijing and Luo for more than ten years. My husband was poor and lowly, so we met today without money for drinks." It can be seen that he was still in a "poor" situation with "no money for drinks" at that time. middle. These two songs were written as farewells when he was unhappy in the early days, and it was inevitable that he would "borrow someone else's wine glass and pour it on himself". But the poet places hope in comfort, thus giving people a feeling of confidence and strength.
When the poet is about to break up, he does not write any intricacies of farewell, but passionately encourages his friends to embark on a journey to meet the future. The reason why the poem is outstanding is that Gao Shi has "a lot of imagination and spirit" (Yin Fan's "Heyue Yingling Collection") and "exalts himself with his temperament" ("Chronicles of Tang Poems"), so it can add color to people with lofty ideals and provide a good foundation for people with lofty ideals. The wanderer wiped his tears. If the poet's inner pent-up hadn't burst out, he wouldn't have been able to express his parting words so considerately and firmly, and he wouldn't have been able to create such pure, mellow and moving poetry with such simple and unpretentious language.