The whole poem can be divided into three levels. The first layer describes his conflicting emotions when he took up the post of Yongjia Governor. He regretted that he could neither retire peacefully like the hidden Qiu, nor could he be as famous and successful as the high-flying Hong. The second layer describes him looking out the window while he was ill. The third layer writes about his longing for home.
The first eight sentences are the first level, mainly describing the dissatisfaction after the officialdom was frustrated and the contradictory situation at that time. During the Wei, Jin, and Southern Dynasties, power struggles were fierce and official careers were turbulent. Therefore, gentry literati had both ambitions to be enterprising and envious of seclusion. However, poets faced the dilemma of gaining neither. This is where the poem begins: "Qianqiu" is a metaphor for a hidden, aloof and self-admired life, and "Feihong" is a metaphor for a state of striving to soar high and becoming famous in the world; the following two sentences say that no matter the former or the latter, I couldn't even do it myself, and I felt deeply ashamed. Among the four sentences, the third sentence follows the second sentence, and the fourth sentence is far from the first sentence. The poetic meaning is coherent but varied. The above four sentences use vivid metaphors to describe one's own predicament, but why this happens is not clearly explained, so the next four sentences are used to implement the first four sentences. "Jin De" means making progress and showing kindness to the world, which corresponds to the sentence "Fei Hong". ——But although he has this ambition, his talent is not enough. The actual meaning of this sentence is that you are upright and upright, and even get framed by others. "Return to farmland" means to retire to the countryside and finance one's own farming activities, which corresponds to the sentence "Qianqiu". ——But even if you have this wish, it is beyond your power. With the Xie family's wealth, there is certainly no question of "returning farmland without power". The actual meaning of this sentence is that I have a desire to retire, but I am just limited by the situation and cannot achieve it. Because if Xie Lingyun refused to take office at that time, he would have openly expressed his opposition to those in power, which would most likely lead to greater trouble. Next, I further write that I came to this remote corner of the sea out of desperation and stayed in bed for a long time after winter, facing only the desolate empty forest. The whole poem goes from virtual to real, from far to near, and the atmosphere gradually drops to the lowest point.
The eight sentences following "quilt pillow" are the second level, describing the spring scenery seen when climbing the stairs. "Quiet Pillow Mojie Waiting" closely follows the previous sentence "Lying sick in the empty forest", writing that unknowingly, winter has passed and spring has come while lying sick, and at the same time, it naturally leads to "The sleeping quilt is temporarily coming" in the latter half of the year. "Jiu" refers to a short period of time, which means that you are recovering from illness. The two sentences "tilt your ears" and "raise your eyes" express the poet's extreme love for the natural scenery. The gentle lapping of water waves in the pond makes people ponder and understand when they listen carefully; the jagged mountains in the distance make people relaxed and happy when looking at it. There is a scene in front of us: the "first scene" is the sunshine of the new spring, which is getting rid of the "xu wind", the remaining wind of the remaining winter, and the "new sun", that is, spring, has replaced the rule of the "old yin", that is, winter. "First scene" and "Xinyang" describe the overall feeling, which are virtual strokes. The following two sentences, "pond" and "garden willow", turn into specific descriptions of close-up scenes. "Spring grass grows in the pond, and willows in the garden turn into songbirds" is one of the most famous lines in Xie's poems. It has aroused admiration from many people and even led to some mysterious legends. But some people also pointed out: These two sentences are really ordinary and there is nothing to boast about. How it should be viewed requires a little analysis.
It seems that this couplet (especially the first sentence) is indeed very ordinary, without any refinement, and the scenery described is nothing special. But it should be noted that it well expresses the characteristics of early spring and the poet's mood at that time. The grass around the pond (especially in the sunny areas) is nourished by the pond water and has slopes to block the cold wind, so it revives early and grows quickly. Its green color is also particularly fresh and tender, and it is full of vitality. But it is so common that most people don't notice it. Xie Lingyun was recovering from a long-term illness. This usually unattractive scenery suddenly touched him and made him feel the vitality of all things in spring, so he naturally came up with this refreshing sentence. "Garden willows turn into songbirds" refers to the singing of newly migrating birds on the willow branches. This is also a subtle and difficult to detect change. The two poems express the poet's keen feeling and the oscillation of melancholy mood in the rhythm of spring. Furthermore, in the poetry circle of the early Song Dynasty, represented by Xie Lingyun, there was a trend of pursuing good lines, and usually good lines were won by repeated carving and proficiency in characterization. In such a trend, such naturally vivid and charming poems are even more outstanding. In short, when viewed in a specific literary environment and specific poems, "Spring grass grows in the pond, and willows in the garden turn into songbirds" is indeed a good line, but it doesn't make much sense to comment on it alone. Judging from the whole poem, at this point, the mood gradually turns to a cheerful and joyful warm tone.
The second level is the most exciting part of the poem. The poet spent a winter on the sick bed, and it is now early spring. He sat by the window and listened carefully to the sound of waves crashing on the shore in the distance; he raised his eyes to look at the undulating shadows of the mountains in the distance. The scenery seen nearby is: "Spring grass grows in the pond, and garden willows turn into songbirds." The poet chose a small and typical shot from the many scenes of winter passing and spring returning: the pond with dry grass outside the building unknowingly. Spring grass has grown profusely here; the singing of birds in the weeping willow bushes in the small garden has also changed. It was from the changes in the small pond that the poet, who had been ill for a long time, suddenly realized that there was already a strong sense of spring outside. The scenery described here is vivid and colorful, far and near intertwined, and full of vitality. The two sentences "Pond" have always been praised by poetry commentators. The beauty of it is that it is naturally fresh and not artificial.
The last six sentences are the third level. The first two sentences are associated with climbing a building to watch spring, and are associated with ancient poems describing spring scenery. They use allusions to express their emotions, and the mood turns to sentimentality. The "Bin Ge" in "Qi Qi hurts Bin Ge" refers to an article in "The Book of Songs·Bin Feng·July", in which there are lines describing spring scenery such as "Cai Fan Qi Qi".
"Shang Binge", according to traditional interpretations such as "Preface to Mao's Poems" and "Poetry Book", "July" was written by Duke Zhou when he was suffering from rumors and living in the eastern capital to avoid slander. Xie Ling used this allusion to bring out It has a metaphorical meaning. The "Chu Yin" in "The luxuriant grass feels the yin of Chu" refers to an article in "The Songs of Chu: Recruiting Hermits", which contains the sentence "Spring grass grows luxuriantly". The so-called "feeling Chuyin" means feeling the life of a hermit. These two sentences return to the content of the first level, but they are not simply repeated, but express the need to get rid of the embarrassing situation and determine to take the path of seclusion. The next two sentences, "living alone" and "living alone", write about the unacceptable side of living in seclusion, which means: living in isolation makes people easily feel that the years are long, dull and boring, and it is difficult to feel at ease. From a poetic point of view, these two sentences refer to the thoughts of ordinary people, not to themselves. But in terms of underlying psychology, this rejected idea also vaguely revealed some doubts of his own. Xie Lingyun came from a wealthy family, was respected by the world, and was arrogant and arrogant. It was not easy for him to live in seclusion in isolation from the world. But no matter what happened, he was determined to go into seclusion. The two sentences at the end of the whole poem say: "How can practicing practice be unique in ancient times? No boredom exists today!" The phrase "no boredom" comes from "Qian Gua" in the Book of Changes, which means that a person of great virtue can avoid the world and have no worries. The meaning of these two sentences is: Upholding integrity is not only something that the ancients can do. The so-called "escaping from the world without boredom" in the "Book of Changes" can also be tested by today's people! In this way, the mood of the poem is freed from the dilemma and ends with a high-pitched tone. About half a year later, Xie Lingyun finally resigned due to illness and retired to his ancestral home in Shining.
In this poem, the poet expresses his inner depression in various ways, or expresses his inner frustration by using the progress and retreat of Qiu and Hong to explain his own situation; or he expresses his feelings directly. The loneliness of living alone in a foreign land; or describing feelings through scenery, using the vivid spring scenery of Jiangnan to set off the poet's inner depression.
This poem focuses on climbing to the pool and upstairs, expressing various complex emotions. There is a mood of self-admiration, complaints about political frustration, depression at being unable to advance or retreat, hidden resentment towards political opponents, aspiration to live in seclusion, etc. Although the language is quite obscure, it truly expresses the process of inner activities. The scene description part of the poem is closely integrated with lyricism, and becomes the hub of emotional changes in the poem. The description of scenery also reflects the poet's love and sensitivity to nature, which is the condition for him to create a school of landscape poetry. However, the language is too profound, the sentence structure lacks variety, and some repetitions are caused by the need for confrontation, which are also obvious weaknesses. These all need to be corrected by the development of poetry.