Five character verse.
The original text is as follows:
"Ambition"
Tang Dynasty: Wang Ji
Dong Gao looks forward to the dusk, where can I rely on when I move?
The trees are all in autumn colors, and the mountains are only covered with sunset.
Herdsmen drive calves back, hunting horses return with poultry.
We look at each other but have no acquaintance, and we sing and pick up the flowers in our hearts for a long time.
This poem is about the autumn scenery of the mountains and fields. The whole poem reveals the loneliness and depression in the description of the bleak and quiet scenery, and expresses the feelings of melancholy and loneliness. "Looking at the dusk in Donggao, where can I rely on when I move?" Gao is a place by the water. Donggao refers to a place in Longmen, Jiangzhou, his hometown. After he retired to seclusion, he often traveled to Beishan and Donggao, calling himself "Donggaozi". "Yiyi" means wandering. "Where can I rely on?" is adapted from Cao Cao's "Dan Ge Xing", which means "the moon and stars are sparse, the black magpie flies south, and it circles the tree three times, and there is no branch to rely on", expressing the bored and hesitant mood.
The following four sentences describe the scenery seen in the dusk: "The trees are all in autumn colors, and the mountains are only covered with sunset. The herdsmen drive their calves back, and the hunting horses and birds return." Looking around, there is autumn color everywhere. It looked increasingly bleak in the afterglow of the setting sun. Against this quiet background, close-ups of the shepherd and hunting horses bring a pastoral pastoral atmosphere to life, making the entire picture come alive. These four poems are like an autumn evening picture of a mountain home, with light and color, distant view and close-up view, static and dynamic, all perfectly matched.
However, Wang Ji could not find solace in the countryside like Tao Yuanming, so he finally said: "We care about each other without knowing each other, and we sing and cherish the flowers for a long time." He said that he was lonely and helpless in reality, so he had no choice but to reminisce about ancient times. The hermit made friends with people like Boyi and Shuqi.
Those who are familiar with Tang poetry may not think that this poem has any special benefits. However, if you follow the order of poetry history, starting from the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen Dynasties in the Southern Dynasties, and suddenly read this poem "Ambition", you will be applauded for its simplicity. Most of the poetry styles of the Southern Dynasties are extravagant and gorgeous, like a jeweled lady wrapped in silk and satin. Walking out of the crowd of ladies, you suddenly meet a village girl in a Jingchai sarong. Her simple beauty without makeup will produce a special charm. Wang Ji's "Ambition" has such a simple benefit.
The genre of this poem is five-character poem. Ever since Shen Yue and others applied the knowledge of rhythm to poetry creation during the Qi Yongming period of the Southern Dynasty, the new genre of rhythmic poetry has been brewing. By the time of Shen Quanqi and Song Zhiwen in the early Tang Dynasty, the rhythmic poetry was finalized and became an important poetry genre. Wang Ji, who was more than sixty years earlier than Shen and Song Dynasties, could already write mature verses such as "Ambition", which shows that he is a person who has the courage to try new forms. The first and last couplets of this poem express emotions, and the middle two couplets describe scenery. Through the repetition of emotion-scenery-emotion, the meaning of the poem deepens. This is in line with the basic structure of rhythmic poetry.