Liu Yuxi
There are some weeds blooming by the Suzaku Bridge, and there is only sunset at the corner of Wuyi Lane.
Swallows under the eaves of Wang Dao and Xie An have now flown into the homes of ordinary people.
To annotate ...
1. Zhuque Bridge: Near Wuyi Lane, it is a bridge outside the south gate (Zhuque Gate) of the capital of the Six Dynasties, and it was the main traffic road at that time.
2. Wuyi Lane: In today's southeast of Nanjing, this poem is the second of the five topics in Jinling, describing the past and present changes of Wuyi Lane.
3. Xie Wang: refers to the homes of Wang Dao and Xie 'an in big noble, Eastern Jin Dynasty, and Wuyi Lane is the place where these two big noble lived together. The last two poems are about vicissitudes of life, which naturally becomes a bitter satire on the rich and nobles.
4. Ordinary: Ordinary, ordinary.
[Author] Liu Yuxi (772-842) was born in Luoyang (now Henan). A famous poet in Tang Dynasty.
Appreciation of ancient poetry
This is the second poem in Liu Yuxi's Five Topics of Jinling. Through the description of the sunset weeds and swallows changing owners, the poet profoundly shows the great changes in the past and present, and implies ridicule and warning to the rich and powerful families.
At the beginning of the poem, there are two sentences: the weeds are in full bloom by the Suzaku Bridge, and the sunset is oblique at the entrance of Wuyi Lane. Wuyi Lane is in the southeast of Nanjing today, on the south bank of Qinhuai River. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Dao, Xie An and other rich people once lived here. Zhuque Bridge, near Wuyi Lane, was a major traffic artery at that time. It is conceivable that the traffic here is busy and prosperous. But now there are only weeds and flowers by the bridge. A wild remark tells the decline and desolation of the scene. And Wuyi lane is in the sunset. Under the setting sun, adding an oblique character effectively renders the bleak scene of the setting sun.
At the beginning of the poem, a neat antithesis sentence is used to describe today's decline scene, which is in sharp contrast with the prosperity of the past.
Three, four, two sentences In the old society, Wang Xie and Yan Fei entered the homes of ordinary people. Swallow is a migratory bird. Spring has come and autumn has gone. Swallows used to fly in and always built their nests in the spacious houses of Wang, Xie and other aristocratic families. Now there are no pavilions in the old clan, and ordinary people live here. Swallows can only fly into the homes of ordinary people. At the beginning of the third sentence, the poet particularly emphasized the word "old times", cleverly giving Swallow the identity of a historical witness. The fourth sentence uses the word "ordinary" to emphasize that the residents in the past and now are completely different, thus effectively expressing the great changes in the world. The decline of aristocratic families in the Jin Dynasty implies that contemporary nouveau riche will inevitably make the same mistakes.
This poem describes the scenery throughout, without adding a comment. The poet put pen to paper from the side and expressed it by artistic means of seeing the big from the small. The language is implicit and intriguing.