"Ode to the Willows" expresses the poet's praise for spring and the thriving and vibrant power of nature by praising willow trees.
"Spring Day" expresses the poet's praise and love for spring by describing the vibrant scene of spring.
1. "Ode to the Willow"
Tang Dynasty: He Zhizhang
The jasper is as tall as a tree, with thousands of green silk ribbons hanging down.
I don’t know who cuts out the thin leaves. The spring breeze in February is like scissors.
Translation: The tall willow trees are covered with emerald new leaves, and the soft willow branches hang down like thousands of gently fluttering green ribbons. Whose skillful hands cut these thin young leaves? It turned out to be the warm spring breeze in February, like a pair of dexterous scissors.
2. "Spring Day"
Song Dynasty: Zhu Xi
The sun is shining brightly on the shore of Surabaya, and the boundless scenery is new for a while.
Easy to recognize the east wind, colorful colors are always spring.
Translation: It’s a beautiful and sunny spring outing on the shore of Surabaya, and the boundless scenery takes on a new look. Anyone can see the face of spring. The spring breeze blows flowers into bloom and becomes a riot of purple and red. Spring scenery is everywhere.
Extended information
1. The creative background of "Spring Day"
This poem literally refers to the author's impressions of spring outing written during a spring outing. , Wang Xiang annotated "Poems of a Thousand Families" and thought it was a work for a spring outing. According to the author's life time, it can be seen that the spring outing in Surabaya written in this poem is not a fact, but a fiction. In the eleventh year of the Shaoxing reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty (1141), the Song and Jin Dynasties signed the "Shaoxing Peace Agreement", and the territory of the Song and Jin Dynasties was bounded by the Huai River.
In the first year of Longxing (1163), Zhang Jun went on a northern expedition and was defeated by Fuli again. From then on, the peace faction gained power and the anti-war faction disappeared. After Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty returned, the Southern Song Dynasty court was slightly more stable and settled in the southeast, while the Jin people had to temporarily withdraw their troops in Huaibei.
At the end of Zhu Xi's life, the Southern Song Dynasty did not have a large border defense army, and Zhu Xi himself had no way to cross the Huaihe River to reach the Lu border, and it was impossible to go north to reach Surabaya.
The author has never been to the land of Surabaya, but this poem is written about Surabaya. The reason is due to Zhu Xi's latent psychology and his crush on Confucius. He longed for the time when Confucius lived in Zhusi, recited string songs, and preached. It is a great thing to teach people, so I entrusted my mind to wandering in search of beauty. Therefore, this poem is actually based on Surabaya, the holy land of Confucius.
2. "Ode to Willows" is a poem about willows in early spring and February. "Jasper is as high as a tree, with thousands of green silk ribbons hanging down" keenly captures the characteristics of the weeping willow. In the poet's eyes, it is the incarnation of a girl. The tall tree trunks are just like her graceful appearance.
"I wonder who cuts the thin leaves" highlights the delicate and delicate shape of the willow leaves. This sentence also forms a questioning relationship with the fourth sentence "The spring breeze in February is like scissors". The last two sentences are the poet's self-questions and answers. These questions and answers, coupled with the visual metaphor, cleverly transition the poem from describing the willow tree to describing the spring breeze. It is reminiscent of the spring scenery in the garden. It can be said that you can know a willow when you see it. The garden is full of spring.
This poem uses willow trees to sing about the spring breeze, comparing the spring breeze to scissors, saying that it is the creator of beauty, and praising it for cutting out spring. The poem is filled with people's joy at early spring.