One of two quatrains by Du Fu
Chiri, the mountains and rivers are beautiful, and the spring breeze is fragrant with flowers and grass.
Swallows fly when the mud melts, and mandarin ducks sleep in the warm sand.
Du Fu’s early works while wandering in the southwest were written in a thatched cottage in Chengdu, depicting the gorgeous spring scenery in the Huanhua River area where the thatched cottage is located. It reflects that Du Fu's life was relatively stable at that time.
Appreciation
Tao Yukai, a poetry critic of the Qing Dynasty, pointed out in his book "Shuo Du" that Du Ji contained many works that "use poetry as painting". This five-character quatrain, written in a thatched cottage in Chengdu, is a masterpiece that is extremely poetic and picturesque. At the beginning of the poem, the poem focuses on the big picture, depicting the bright and gorgeous spring scenery in the Huanhua River area under the bright sunshine in early spring. The writing is simple and the colors are rich. "Chiri" refers to the spring day, which comes from the "Book of Songs·Binfeng·July" "Spring day is late". This is used to highlight the sunshine of early spring and to unify the whole article. At the same time, the word "Li" is used to embellish "Jiangshan", which expresses the beautiful scenery of spring sunshine, green fields and streams reflecting the sun. Although this is a rough outline, the bottom of the brush is full of spring.
In the second sentence, the poet further uses the warm spring breeze, the first blooming flowers, the green grass, and the rich fragrance to show the bright spring scenery. Because the poet organically organizes the spring breeze, flowers and plants and the fragrance they emit, through association, readers can feel the gentle breeze, blooming flowers, and the fragrance of flowers, and receive an immersive artistic effect.
On top of the bright and vast scenery, the third and fourth sentences turn to specific and vivid descriptions of early spring scenery.
In the third sentence, the poet chooses the most common and characteristic dynamic scenery in early spring to outline. Spring is warm and flowers are blooming, the mud is melting and the soil is moist. Swallows, which are returning from autumn to spring, are busy flying around, carrying mud in their mouths and building nests. This vivid description makes the picture more vibrant, full of spring, and has a dynamic beauty. Du Fu's observation of swallows is very detailed. "The mud melts" closely follows the first sentence. It is because the spring returns to the earth and the sun shines that "the mud melts"; the purple swallow newly returns, makes a nest of mud and keeps flying, showing a sense of spring. Noisy situation.
The fourth sentence outlines a static scene. The spring is melting, the sun is shining and the sand is warm. The mandarin ducks also want to enjoy the warmth of spring and sleep peacefully on the sandbank by the stream. This also closely echoes the first sentence, because the sand is warm only "in the late day", and the warm sand attracts pairs of mandarin ducks to come out of the water and bathe in the bright sunshine, so leisurely and comfortable. Judging from the description of the scenery, in contrast to the dynamic flying swallows in the third sentence, the alternation of movement and stillness makes each other interesting. These two sentences describe the flying swallows and sleeping mandarin ducks in fine brushwork. They are combined with the broad and bright scenery in the first and second sentences to make the whole picture harmonious and unified, forming a picture with bright colors, flourishing business and aesthetic feeling. early spring scenery picture. As far as the thoughts and feelings contained in the poem are concerned, it reflects the poet's comfortable mood of temporarily settling in the thatched cottage after "one year old and four lines of labor" and "three years of hunger and wandering on the barren mountain roads". It is also the poet's view of the natural world in early spring. An expression of vitality and thriving joy.
This five-character quatrain has a bright and distant artistic conception and a fresh style. The contrasts in the whole poem are neat, but natural and smooth, without any polish; the scenery is described with clear and delicate details, without any trace, which is a unique chapter in Du Ji's poem.