The original text of "Horse Poems" is:
The sand in the desert is like snow, and the moon in Yanshan Mountain is like a hook.
How can I be a golden person and walk quickly through the autumn.
Meaning: Thousands of miles of flat sand looks like a layer of white frost and snow under the moonlight. On the rolling ridges of Yanshan Mountain, a bright moon looms in the sky, like a curved hook. When will the emperor appreciate me and put a gold bridle on my horse, so that I can gallop on the battlefield in autumn and make contributions?
In addition, "Horse Poems" expresses the poet's extraordinary talents, lofty ambitions, and untimely sighs and resentments by chanting, praising horses, or lamenting the fate of horses, and using horses as metaphors for people.
Extended information
About the author
Li He (790-816), a poet of the Tang Dynasty, had the courtesy name Changji and his ancestral home in Longxi. Li He is a distant branch of the Tang clan. His family has long been in decline and his life is difficult. Li He was already talented and diligent in his studies when he was young. However, some people were jealous of his talent and slandered him by saying that his father's name was Jin Su and that he should avoid taking part in the Jinshi imperial examination. Han Yu once wrote an article "Taubian" to refute the rumors. However, Li He's official career was still in trouble because of this. He could not pass the exam and only served as a minor official of the ninth rank.
Li He’s poems like to use bold and weird imagination in mythological stories and ghost worlds to construct an illusive and confusing artistic realm, expressing the sentimental emotions that good times do not last long and time is fleeting. Because of some of his works, The mood is gloomy and low, so Li He was called the "Poetry Ghost" by later generations.
Creative background
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty when the author Li He lived, the separatism of the feudal towns was very serious, and the central government was almost powerless against the forces of the feudal towns. Yanshan in the poem refers to the area where feudal rule was most severe in Youzhou, Hebei Province. The author expressed his desire to make achievements and pacify the separatist regime by chanting horses, and at the same time expressed his resentment at not being recognized for his talent.
Appreciation of the work
This poem mainly uses the technique of metaphor, using horses to express emotions, and expresses the ability and ambition of the patriots as well as the emotion of not being able to appreciate their talents through chanting horses.
The first two sentences of the poem describe the scenery with strong border characteristics, painting a peaceful and distant picture. The Yanshan Mountains in the border areas are endless, and on a clear autumn night, a bright moon hangs in the sky; the desolate desert Gobi is flat and endless, and the gravel looks like frost and snow under the moonlight, giving people a cold feeling. The "hook" in "The Moon Is Like a Hook" is a type of weapon. The crescent moon associates with the image of weapons, indicating that the poem contains the author's inner activities of killing enemies on the battlefield and serving the country. The battlefield environment is harsh, but it is used by heroes. The place of martial arts. The background description of these two sentences uses two metaphors. At the same time, the scenery is used to elicit lyrical feelings, and the "Xing" technique is used.
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The last two sentences of the poem express emotions. The poet imagines when the horse will be fully armed and equipped to gallop on the battlefield and achieve meritorious deeds. Because the atmosphere was not peaceful at that time, the author had talent but could not extend it, and hoped to make contributions but was not appreciated. Therefore, the poem has a feeling of sadness and anger, but he is also ambitious and eager to find a place to use himself. "Jin Luo Nao" is a valuable decoration, which symbolizes being reused. The word "when" strongly conveys the poet's infinite hope. The sentence "Walking fast to enjoy the clear autumn" vividly highlights the grace of the light and agile horse, and expresses the author's emotion that it is not difficult to travel far even if he is able to serve the world.
Literary common sense
Changji style: Li He's poetry creation was longer than that of Yuefu, and he mostly expressed the grief and indignation of political dissatisfaction. He is good at using myths and legends in his poems, casting his words, imagining, and creating novel and magnificent poetic realms. He is unique in the history of poetry, and his style is called "Changji style".
Idiom allusions
The idiom "work hard" is originally two words. The word "heart" comes from Li He's story, and the two words "blood" come from Han Yu's works. .
The "New Book of Tang·Li He Biography" says that Li He liked writing poems since he was a child. He often traveled around on a donkey. When he saw a good subject, he immediately wrote it down as information and carried it with him. After returning home, he wrote a collection of poetry materials. His mother knew that her son's health was seriously damaged because of his excessive diligence in writing poems, so she said with concern: "My son wants to vomit his heart out, but it is his ears" (this child will not give up until he vomits his heart out)!
"Leaking blood" comes from Han Yu's "Return to Pengcheng": "cut the liver to make paper, drain the blood to make words". It means cutting off the liver to make paper, and dripping blood to make ink to write poems.
People combine "vomiting" and "draining blood" to express that they have spent all their efforts and efforts. Now it also refers to being seriously engaged in education, or painstakingly studying science and technology, studying skills, etc.
Selected readings from Li He’s other works
Four of the twenty-three horse poems
Li He of the Tang Dynasty
This horse is an extraordinary horse. Fangxing is originally a star.
Knocking the thin bones forward still has the sound of copper.
Yanmen Prefect’s Journey
Li He of the Tang Dynasty
Dark clouds pressed down on the city, threatening to destroy it, and the light of armor opened towards the golden scales of the sun.
The sound of the trumpet fills the autumn sky, and the night is purple when stuffed with swallow fat.
A half-rolled red flag is near the Yishui River, and the sound of heavy frost and cold drums cannot be heard.
Report your favor on the golden platform, and guide the Jade Dragon to die for you.