spring scenery
[Tang] Du Fu
Comparison of original translation
Chang' an fell, the country was broken, and only the mountains and rivers remained; Spring has come, and the sparsely populated Chang' an city is densely forested.
Sad state, can not help but burst into tears, amazing birds, leaving sorrow and hate.
The war lasted for more than half a year, and letters from home were rare, with a hundred thousand gold.
Twisting with melancholy, scratching my head and thinking, the more I scratch my white hair, I can hardly insert a hairpin.
translate
Chang' an fell and the country was broken, leaving only mountains and rivers; Spring has come, and Chang 'an, which is sparsely populated, has dense vegetation. Sentimental state affairs, tears can't help splashing, birds are heart-pounding, which only increases sadness but not hatred.
The continuous war has lasted for more than half a year, and there are few letters from home. A letter is worth twelve thousand gold. Worried, scratching my head, my white hair is getting shorter and shorter, and I can't insert it.
To annotate ...
(1) Country: National Capital, referring to Chang 'an (now Xi 'an, Shaanxi). Break: fall. Mountains and rivers still exist: the old mountains and rivers still exist.
(2) City: Chang 'an City. Deep planting: refers to a vast territory with few people.
(3) Sense of time: sentimentality about the current situation of the country.
(4) tears: tears.
(5) Hate parting: regret parting.
(6) bonfire: the fireworks of ancient frontier defense warning, referring to the war of An Shi Rebellion. March: the first month, February and March.
(7) Arrival: value, equivalence.
(8) Whitehead: This refers to white hair.
(9) Scratch: Scratch gently with your fingers.
(10) Hun: Simple.
(1 1) Desire: Want, want, want.
(12) sheng: I can't stand it, I can't stand it.
(13) Hairpin: a kind of jewelry for tying hair. Ancient men had long hair, which was tied on the top of their heads when they were adults and inserted horizontally with hairpins to avoid scattering.
Artistic feature
(of literary works) the feeling and background blend happily/appropriately.
The first four sentences focus on painting landscapes (mountains and rivers, plants, flowers and birds), but there are feelings in landscapes (broken, deep, tears and earthquakes), and there is intention in landscapes (I hate parting when I feel it). The last four sentences focus on lyricism, which means lyricism by borrowing things (breaking the letter from home and scratching the "white head"), and there are scenes in love.
Deep artistic conception
"The country is broken" but "the mountains and rivers are there" and "the city is spring" is "the vegetation is deep"; Flowers and birds are recreational things, but they are "tear-jerking" and "shocking". The sharp contrast of meaning and the gradual reversal of language situation make the poet's frustration and anxiety expressed artistically.
A vivid sentence
The word "broken" in "Although the country is broken, the mountains and rivers will last forever, and the vegetation will recover in spring" is shocking, and the word "deep" is bleak everywhere. The "splash" and "shock" in Where Tears Are Crying, Lonely Birds Sing Sorrow embody the dynamic beauty of poetic language and endow the poet with strong emotions.