Last night, the spring water surged by the river, and the ship was as light as a feather. It used to take a lot of effort to push it, but now it can move freely in the middle of the water.
Original poem:
Last night on the Ross River, the huge warship was as light as a feather.
It used to take a lot of effort to push it, but today it can move in the middle of water.
Source: Song Zhuxi's Reading Thought (Part Two)
Poetry appreciation
This poem is about the dragon boat. It is an ancient warship. It's big and heavy. It takes a lot of people to push it into the water from the beach. Last night, the high tide flooded the beach and the boat drifted naturally. Huge warships, floating on the river, like a goose feather, sail freely in the water.
The poem compares the two situations before and after the flood, which gives a deep impression. In the past, it was "thankless", so it was natural to weigh the ship with great force. Today, because of the spring water on the river last night, the "great ship" has become a "dime light" and can "swim".
There are three periods of time, namely, all the time, last night and today. There are three states, namely, passing by, aquatic and free, which are completely different before and after, and the middle is the process of transformation. Although Zhu is a Neo-Confucianism scholar, he still knows how to think in images when writing poems.