Li Bai (71-December 762), whose name is Taibai, was named as the violet layman and the fallen immortal. He was a great romantic poet in the Tang Dynasty, and was called "Poet Fairy" by later generations and "Li Du" with Du Fu. In order to distinguish himself from the other two poets, Li Shangyin and Du Mu, that is, "Little Li Du", Let's look at the original and appreciation of Li Bai's Spring Thoughts with me. I hope it will help!
Original text:
Spring Thoughts
Author: Li Bai
your grasses up north are as blue as jade, our mulberries here curve green-threaded branches.
and at last you think of returning home, now when my heart is almost broken.
breeze of the spring, since I dare not know you, why part the silk curtains by my bed??
Appreciation:
Li Bai has many poems describing the psychology of thinking about women, and Spring Thoughts is one of them. The word "spring" in China's classical poems is usually a pun: it refers to both spring and the love between men and women. The word "spring" in the poem "Spring Thoughts" contains these two meanings. This poem is unique with the spring scenery of Yan and Qin, which are far apart. Thinking of a woman, thinking of her husband far away, is quite sad. She reprimanded the spring breeze, which was just right.
The first two sentences: "your grasses up north are as blue as jade, our mulberries here curve green-threaded branches" can be regarded as "Xing". Generally speaking, the sentences in the poem are started from what you see in front of your eyes, but these two sentences are quite unique because of the spring scenery in Yan and Qin, which are far apart. "your grasses up north are as blue as jade", when it is out of the suspense of thinking about women; "our mulberries here curve green-threaded branches" is what Sifu witnessed. Logically speaking, it seems a bit awkward to put the distant view and the immediate close-up view that can't be seen on the same picture, and both of them are written from the side of thinking about women, but it is feasible from the perspective of "writing feelings". Imagine: In mid-spring, the mulberry leaves are lush, and the homesick women who are alone in the Qin Dynasty feel touched by the scene and look forward to the early return of their husbands who are stationed in Yandi; Based on her usual loving relationship with her husband and her deep understanding of her husband, she expected that her husband, who was far away in Yandi, would inevitably feel homesick when he saw Bess-like spring grass at the moment. When I saw the spring grass, I was homesick, and I said, "The Songs of Chu Recruit Hermits": "Wang Sun swims without returning, and the spring grass grows!" The first sentence is translated into the language of Chu Ci, which is natural and without trace. The poet skillfully grasped the complex emotional activities of the homesick woman, used two spring scenery to revive the lovesickness between the two places, and combined imagination and nostalgia with the real scene in front of him, thus creating a wonderful scene of the poem. Therefore, it not only plays the role of setting off the emotional atmosphere that ordinary sentences can play, but also conveys the sincere feelings of the thinking woman for her husband and the intimate relationship between them, which is not easy for ordinary sentences to do. In addition, these two sentences also use harmonic puns. "Silk" is harmonious with "thinking" and "branch" is harmonious with "knowing", which is just related to the following thinking and "heartbroken", and enhances the musical beauty and implicit beauty of the poem.
Three or four sentences come directly from the logic of Xing sentence, so they still write from two places: "and at last you think of returning home, now when my heart is almost broken." Husband and spring are pregnant, which is enough to comfort people. It stands to reason that the heroine in the poem should be delighted, but the next sentence is actually accepted by "heartbroken", which seems to violate the psychology of ordinary people. However, if we carefully understand the above sentence, we will find that this writing has further improved the feelings of expressing homesickness. Xiao Shiyue's comments on this poem in Yuan Dynasty revealed the subtle relationship between the poems and the words sung. What seems to be unreasonable in the poem is where the feelings are the most dense.
As the old saying goes, "It is easy to get tired of seeing amorous feelings, but it is easy to change when seeing few." The value of the heroine in this poem lies in the deeper feelings after her separation, and the sparse traces but unswerving heart. The last two lines of the poem are: "breeze of the spring, since I dare not know you, why part the silk curtains by my bed??" The poet captured the mental activity of Sifu when she blew into the boudoir in the spring breeze, and showed her noble sentiment of loyalty to what she loved and faithfulness. From the artistic point of view, these two sentences seem unreasonable to make the passionate thinking woman speak to the ruthless spring breeze, but they are used to express the modality of thinking woman in the specific environment of staying alone in the spring, which makes people feel true and credible. The spring breeze is provocative, the spring thoughts are lingering, and the spring breeze is reprimanded, which is why it is clear and alert. It's just right to end it.
Unreasonable and wonderful is a common artistic feature in classical poetry. It is not difficult to see from this poem of Li Bai that the so-called unreasonable and wonderful means that in the description that seems to be contrary to common sense and natural feelings, it shows all kinds of complicated feelings more deeply.
Poet's achievements:
Li Bai's achievements in Yuefu, Gexing and quatrains are the highest. His songs completely broke all the inherent forms of poetry creation, with no one to rely on, and many brushstrokes, reaching the magical realm of being unpredictable and swaying. Li Bai's quatrains are natural and lively, elegant and chic, and can express endless feelings in concise and lively language. Among the poets in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Wang Wei and Meng Haoran are good at the Five Wonders, Wang Changling and other seven wonders are well written, and Li Bai is the only one who is both good at the Five Wonders and the Seven Wonders.
Li Bai's poems are magnificent and elegant, and his artistic achievements are extremely high. He eulogized the mountains and rivers of the motherland and the beautiful natural scenery, and his style was bold and unrestrained, elegant and fresh, full of romantic spirit, which achieved the perfect unity of content and art. He was called a "fallen immortal" by He Zhizhang, and most of his poems were mainly about describing landscapes and expressing inner feelings. Li Bai's poems have the artistic charm of "the pen falls to shock the wind and rain, and the poem makes the gods cry", which is also the most distinctive artistic feature in his poems. Li Bai's poems are full of self-expression and subjective lyricism, and the expression of feelings has an overwhelming momentum. He and Du Fu are called "Big Li Du" (Li Shangyin and Du Mu are called "Little Li Du").
In Li Bai's poems, imagination, exaggeration, metaphor, personification and other techniques are often used comprehensively, thus creating a magical and magnificent artistic conception, which is the reason why Li Bai's romantic poems are bold and unrestrained and elegant.
Li Bai's poems and songs have had a profound influence on future generations. Han Yu, Meng Jiao and Li He in the middle Tang Dynasty, Su Shi, Lu You and Xin Qiji in the Song Dynasty, Gao Qi, Yang Shen and Gong Zizhen in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were all greatly influenced by Li Bai's poems.
Extended content:
Origin of Li Bai's name:
Li Bai's name "Qinglian Jushi" originated from the "Qinglian" Buddhist scripture in Vimalakīrti Classic, which shows that Li Bai respects Buddhism and yearns for Vimalakīrti's lifestyle. Li Baiyuan's name "Qinglian" and the introduction of "Qinglian" into poetry have their own origins, and they are all inherited from the Six Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. "Qinglian lay" is Li Bai's external identity beyond his inner Buddhist feelings. In the genealogy of Mahayana Buddhism, Li Bai reveres Vimalakīrti the most, and even compares himself with it. From the analysis of his surviving works, Li Bai's belief in Wei Mo mainly highlights the spiritual connotation of "Entering various wine shops can make one's ambition" in Vimalakīrti Jing Convenience Goods. Li Bai's frequent use of Buddhist vocabulary shows one of his Buddhist accomplishments. In fact, Li Bai did not have a little knowledge of Buddhist scriptures, but read and studied them carefully. Among the Li Bai people, there is a monk, that is, his nephew and monk Zhongfu. Zhongfu, a monk, is one of the most important monks who associate with Li Bai. In many of Li Bai's poems, he mentioned the scene of getting along with him, talking clearly and drinking tea. Li Bai described in the poem "To the Monk Cliff Duke" that he had studied Zen in Langling East. By practicing meditation, Li Bai reduced the stress of body and mind, and achieved the effect of "being alone and thanking the dirty atmosphere".