high in the faint moonlight, wildgeese are soaring
tartar chieftains are fleeing through the dark
and we chase them, with horses lightly burdened
and a burden of snow on our bows and our swords
[ Notes]
1. The song of the plug: a military song of the ancient frontier fortress.
2. Moonlight: There is no moonlight.
3. Chanyu (chán yú): the leader of the Huns. This refers to the supreme commander of the invaders.
4. escape: escape.
5. will: lead.
6. Qingqi: Light and fast cavalry.
7. step by step: catch up.
[ Brief Analysis]
This is the third poem in Lu Lun's "Sai Xia Qu" group. Lu Lun used to be a marshal judge in the shogunate, and he had experience in the life of the soldiers. The poems describing this kind of life were more substantial and vigorous in style. This poem is about the heroic feat of the general preparing to lead his troops to chase the enemy on a snowy night.
the first two sentences are about the enemy's flight. "high in the faint moonlight, wildgeese are soaring", the moon was covered by clouds, and it was dark. Su Yan started up and flew high. "tartar chieftains are fleeing through the dark", on this unusual night with high black wind, the enemy secretly escaped. "Khan" originally refers to the supreme ruler of Xiongnu, and here refers to the invaders of Qidan and other ethnic groups who often invaded the south at that time.
the last two sentences describe the scene where the general is preparing to chase the enemy, which is extraordinary in momentum. "and we chase them, with horses lightly burdened", the general found that the enemy had absconded and wanted to lead light cavalry to pursue it; Just as we were about to leave, there was a flurry of heavy snow, and in an instant the bow and knife were covered with snowflakes. The last sentence "and a burden of snow on our bows and our swords" is a description of the cold scene, which highlights the hardship of the battle and the brave spirit of the soldiers.
this poem is full of scenes. The enemy troops fled in the scene of "high in the faint moonlight, wildgeese are soaring", and the general prepared to pursue them in the scene of "and a burden of snow on our bows and our swords". The atmosphere of a flight and a chase is powerfully rendered. The whole poem does not describe the process of chasing the enemy in the snow, nor does it directly describe the fierce battle scenes, but it leaves people with a very rich imagination.
this is the third of six poems in "the song of the plug". Although Lu Lun was a poet in the mid-Tang Dynasty, his frontier poems were still the atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, magnificent and bold, and filled with heroism between the lines, which was inspiring after reading.
a sentence or two, "high in the faint moonlight, wildgeese are soaring, tartar chieftains are fleeing through the dark", describes the enemy's rout. "The moon is dark" and there is no light. "Wild geese fly high", and there is no sound. Taking advantage of such a dark and silent night, the enemy quietly escaped. Khan was the supreme ruler of the Huns in ancient times, and here he refers to the supreme commander of the invaders. Running away at night shows that they have collapsed across the board.
despite the cover of night, the enemy's actions were detected by our army. Three or four sentences, "and we chase them, with horses lightly burdened, and a burden of snow on our bows and our swords", describe the situation that our army is preparing to pursue, showing the mighty spirit of the soldiers. Imagine, a cavalry lined up to go out, and suddenly the bow and knife were covered with heavy snow. What an exciting scene!
From this poem, Lu Lun is very good at capturing images and timing. He can not only grasp the typical image, but also show it at the most artistic moment. The poet doesn't write about how the army attacked, and he doesn't tell you whether he caught up with the enemy. He only describes a scene ready to pursue, which effectively sets off the atmosphere and emotions at that time. "and we chase them, with horses lightly burdened, and a burden of snow on our bows and our swords", this is not the climax of the battle, but the moment approaching the climax. This moment, like an arrow on the string, will not be sent, the most attractive force. You may feel dissatisfied because you didn't give the result. But only in this way can it be more enlightening and arouse readers' association and imagination. This is called endless words and endless meanings. When the dragon sees the head but doesn't see the tail, it's not without a tail. The tail is looming in the clouds, which is more interesting and charming.
title: the next song
the woods are black and a wind assails the grasses, the night shadow bow of the general.
and next morning he finds his white-plumed arrow, pointed deep in the hard rock.
Note:
① The song "Sai Xia"-the name of an ancient song. Most of these works are about frontier scenery and war life.
② fright wind-suddenly blown by the wind.
③ bow drawing-bow drawing and bow opening, which includes the next archery.
④ it's plain and bright-just before dawn.
⑤ white feather-the white feather at the back of the shaft, here refers to the arrow.
⑥ no-falling into, which means drilling.
⑦ stone edge-the corner of a stone.
This frontier poem tells the story of a general hunting tigers, and it is based on Biography of General Li, which was written by Sima Qian, a scholar in the Western Han Dynasty, and recorded the deeds of the famous Li Guang at that time. The original text is: "When you go hunting widely, you see a stone in the grass, thinking that you are shooting at the tiger, and the stone in the middle (zhòng) has no arrowhead. If you look at it, it is also a stone."
The first two sentences of the poem describe the occurrence of events: in the middle of the night, the mountain forest was dark, and suddenly the wind was blowing hard, and the grass was brushed by Joe and fluctuated; Frogman's landing place was in a trance, and a white tiger came at him. At this time, the general was galloping past the forest. He was quick of eye and shot with an arrow ...
The result of the last two sentences was that the next morning, the general remembered what happened in the forest last night and came to the scene along the original road. He couldn't help but be surprised: in the bright morning light, he clearly saw that it was not a tiger but a boulder that was shot by him. Fear crouched there silently, and the white arrow went deep into the stone edge! Please note that the place where the arrow enters is not a stone hole, a crevice or a stone surface, but a narrow and sharp stone edge-what arm strength and martial arts it takes!
someone wants to ask, why didn't the general shoot the tiger and wait until the next morning? The original story didn't say that I didn't know it was a stone until the next day! This is the artistic treatment of the poet. First, it can show the general's confidence. It has always been a hit. Are you afraid it won't die and run away this time? Second, it can increase the intuitiveness of the image and make people see it more clearly. If you watch it that night, you can certainly find that it is a misunderstanding, but it is difficult to achieve the vivid effect of the present picture.
Poetry pays the most attention to implication and the most attention to implication. Seeing the description of the arrow hitting the stone in the poem, we will naturally associate: what would it look like if it was really a tiger? What if you shoot enemy troops and horses on the battlefield? As a result, the image of a general with high martial arts skills, bravery and good fighting skills stood before our eyes.
About the author: Lu Lun (748-8) was born in Hepongpu (now Yongji County, Shanxi Province). Poets in Tang Dynasty.
Title: Song of the Sai Xia
Four songs of the Sai Xia (Part I)
Li Yi
Fanzhou tribe can end, hunting the Yellow River song day and night.
the songs of Yan are still flying, and the herd of horses is green.
There are many poems about frontier fortress in Tang Dynasty, but after all, most of them show the hardships and dangers of garrison life and the homesickness of soldiers. Even some famous singers are inevitably mixed with words of danger and suffering or sad emotions. When readers turn to Li Yi's masterpiece, they will feel very different, and they will be attracted by the magnificent picture of that day. It is outstanding in expressing the lofty sentiments of soldiers' lives and reflecting the magnificent scenery in the northwest.
In the poem, "Fanzhou" refers to the northwest frontier (there was another Fanzhou in the Tang Dynasty, which is located in the west of Yishan County, Guangxi, and does not belong to the Yellow River), and "Fanzhou tribe" refers to the border guards stationed in the Yellow River Hetao ("Yellow River Qu"). The soldiers in the army lived a life of "returning to the Jade Pass at the age of years, making a horse policy and a knife ring at the dynasty", which was very hard, but was tempered to be very strong and brave. The first sentence only praises them for "being able to finish", that is, being good at dressing up. By describing the heroic appearance of the soldiers, the author indicates to the readers that it is self-evident that they are good at fighting, so the next sentence is written as "galloping", instead of "being able", and the readers can understand themselves.
Hunting in the army is a routine military training, which is no better than that of the princes. Athletes enjoy it, and practice in the morning and evening, ready to meet the enemy at any time. It is precisely "in order to report that all the Xiongnu are now protected, and the Xiongnu should not go down to the clouds" (the fourth poem in the same group). The action of "Hunting the Yellow River Song at dusk" shows the athletes' impassioned spirit and dedication to the country and their belief in winning, and the sentence is full of praise from the author.
These two sentences focus on depicting the characters and their spiritual outlook, while the last two sentences show the broad background of the characters' activities. The scenery in the Northwest Plateau is so magnificent: the sky is high and the clouds are light, the geese are flying, the songs are floating on the vast Yuan Ye, and the horses are running in the green grass, which is a vibrant weather.
The "Yan Ge" sung by the recruiters is said to be the tune of "Yan Ge Xing". Seeing the flying geese far away, there is indeed a deep nostalgia for the hometown of the northern soldiers in the song. However, Fei Hong's "Yan Ge is not broken", and this happy song does not contain the singer's love and pride in the other place. If this is not obvious in the three sentences, then there is no doubt about reading the last sentence.
"The herd of horses hisses and the grass is green". In the poem praising the scenery in the northwest, it can almost be compared with the strange sentence "the wind blows grass and sees cattle and sheep" The sentence "the wind blows the grass low" is to write autumn colors on the plateau, so it is more desolate; And the sentence "herding horses and hissing" is written in the spring of the plateau, so there is a business. The word "green" is excellent. Because of three or four pairs of knots, the word "Sai Hongfei" is said on the top, and the word "grass green" is used on the bottom, which shows that the word "green" is verbalized. It's not exactly a green grass color, but also describes the change of "boundless grasses over the plain" from dry to glorious, suggesting that spring unconsciously returns to the grassland. This and Wang Anshi's famous sentence "The spring breeze is green in Jiang Nanan", both of which are won by using the word "green". In Jiangnan, spring returns to the earth, which is called by the singing birds. The spring in Saibei is greeted by the joy of horses. The combination of "the grass is green" and "the horses are hissing" has a particularly long meaning; It seems that because of Ma Si, the grass is greener and more lovely. The grandeur and lofty sentiments expressed in poetry are very valuable.
the plug? Second,
Author: Wang Changling
drink, my horse, while we cross the autumn water!, the stream is cold and the wind like a sword.
as we watch against the sunset on the sandy plain, far, far away, shadowy Lintao.
old battles, waged by those long walls, once were proud on all men's tongues.
but antiquity now is a yellow dust, confusing in the grasses its ruins and white bones.
Note:
1. Dark: the same as "secretly";
2. Lintao: The area around Min County in Gansu Province today is the starting point of the Great Wall.
3. salty: both.
Rhyme translation:
Leading a horse to drink water across the big river,
The biting autumn wind in Shui Han is like a sword.
The sunset has not yet set in the vast battlefield.
I can see Lintao far away in the darkness.
In those days, there was a fierce battle on the Great Wall.
It was said that the soldiers guarding the border had high spirits.
Since ancient times, yellow dust has been everywhere, and
White bones are littered with weeds.
Comment: This Yuefu song is based on the Great Wall and depicts the misery and cruelty of war. The first four sentences of the poem are about
festival in late autumn beyond the Great Wall and the desolate scene of sunset in Pingsha. The area around the Great Wall has always been a battlefield, with white bones in hills and desolate scenes.
The whole poem is shocking, expressing the idea of non-war.