Original text of "Liangsi"
When the guests leave, the waves are flat,
The cicadas are no longer covered with dew on their branches.
Whenever you cherish this festival,
When you lean on it, it will move by itself.
Beidou and Chunyuan,
Nanling settled in late.
The end of the world predicts the number of dreams,
When doubts arise, there is new knowledge.
Appreciation of "Cold Thoughts"
The first couplet describes the environment in which melancholy occurs. The visitors have left, the water in the pool has leveled the sill, the cicadas have stopped noising, and the dew is hanging on the branches. It is a cool picture of a water pavilion on an autumn night! However, the beauty of the poem is not only the realistic description of the scene, but also the meticulous details. It conveys the subtle changes in the poet's psychological feelings.
At the beginning of the second couplet, the poet's writing style shifts from "cool" to "thinking".
The second half of the psalm enters the content of the thought. It has been two years since he left Chang'an and he has not returned yet. The envoy entrusted to Nanling to deliver the message has yet to bring back the expected news. In such a dilemma, it is no wonder that the poet feels abandoned and lonely. He often uses dreams to predict good or bad luck, and even speculates that the person he is contacting has a new friend and no longer misses his old friend. Since the writing background is difficult to determine, the story narrated in the poem is not very clear. But we know that Li Shangyin was unsuccessful in his life. He only served as a minor official for two short terms in the court, and spent the rest of his time wandering in other places and living under the influence of others. This poem was probably written when I was wandering again. I missed Chang'an but could not return, I could not find a new way out, my ambition was difficult to develop, and I had no place to support myself, so I had to attribute it to sadness and depression.
This poem expresses its emotions directly from the heart, unlike the author's usual poems that use twists and turns to express his thoughts. However, the expression of his heart is still subtle and implicit, and it is not exhaustive. The language style is clear and light, without fake carvings. It is different from Li Shangyin's usual refined and elegant style, and is suitable for expressing the desolate and desolate feelings. Great writers are good at giving shapes to objects and are not limited by a fixed style, which can be seen from this.
Introduction to the author of "Liangsi"
Li Shangyin, a famous poet. He is good at poetry writing, and his parallel prose has high literary value. He is one of the most outstanding poets in the late Tang Dynasty. Together with Du Mu, he is known as "Xiao Li Du", and with Wen Tingyun, he is known as "Wen Li". Cheng Shi and Wen Tingyun have similar styles, and they are all ranked sixteenth in their families, so they are called the "Thirty-sixth Body". His poems are novel in conception and beautiful in style, especially some love poems and untitled poems, which are sentimental, beautiful and moving, and are widely read. However, some poems are too obscure and confusing to be understood. There is a saying that "poets always love Xikun and hate that no one writes Zheng Jian." Because he was caught in the partisan struggle between Niu and Li, he was very frustrated in his life. After his death, he was buried in his hometown Qinyang (the junction of today's Qinyang and Boai County). The works are included in "Li Yishan's Collected Poems".