Appreciation of the ancient poem "Snow at Night"

Tang Dynasty: Bai Juyi

original text

This night, the pillow was ice, which surprised me. I saw the light snow outside the window.

It's late at night until it snows heavily, because you can hear the sound of bamboo branches breaking from time to time.

translate

At night, my pillow froze. I was surprised. I saw the window lit up by the snow.

I know it snows heavily at night, because I can hear the sound of snow pressing bamboo branches from time to time.

To annotate ...

(1) dumbfounded: surprised. Pillows: quilts and pillows.

⑵ Bamboo creaking: refers to the sound of heavy snow pressing bamboo.

Distinguish and appreciate

The first two sentences, "I was shocked and cold, but the window was bright and clean", were all about people's feelings. By "cold", it is pointed out that there is snow, but also implies heavy snow, because life experience proves that the cold in the air is completely absorbed by water vapor and condensed into snowflakes at the first snow, and the temperature will not drop immediately until it snows heavily, which will aggravate the cold in the air. It's already very cold here, so it snowed for a long time. Not only Cold is about snow, but In a daze is also about snow. The reason why people didn't notice it at first and suddenly woke up when the cold came is because the snow fell silently, which is another feature of writing snow besides "cold". This sentence is very tight, feeling that "the pillow is cold" just means that someone has been lying at night, thus pointing out that it is "night snow." See the window again, and further write the night snow from the visual point of view. Seeing the window bright at night shows that it is snowing heavily and deeply, and it is the strong reflection of snow that brings light to the dark night. The above are all profiles, every sentence is written by people, but it is pointed out everywhere that the night snow.

The last two sentences, "I know it snows heavily at night, but I hear the sound of bamboo folding", are still described in profile here, only written from the perspective of hearing. The sound of snow pressing on bamboo branches indicates that the snow is increasing. The poet deliberately chose the detail of "folding bamboo" to express the word "heavy", which has a different feeling. The sound of "bamboo folding" sounded in the middle of the night, showing the silence of winter night, and more importantly, writing the poet's sleepless night; This is not only for the "cold pillow", but also reveals the loneliness of the poet when he lives in Jiangzhou. Because the poet reveals his unique feelings with true feelings, this poem "Snow at Night" is unique, poetic, implicit and has enduring charm.

This poem is novel and unique. First of all, we should have a good idea. There are not many poems about night snow, which is related to the characteristics of snow itself. Snow is silent and tasteless, and can only be distinguished by color, shape and posture. In the dark night, people's vision completely loses its function, and naturally they can't capture the image of snow. It is from this special situation that the poet narrates everything from four levels: touch (cold), sight (light), feeling (knowledge) and hearing (smell). So as to vividly write a night snow. There is neither color description nor gesture description in the poem, which is simply unremarkable at first glance. But if you savor it carefully, you will find it dignified and simple, fresh and elegant. This poem is simple and natural, and its poetic environment is simple, which fully embodies the poet's easy-to-understand language characteristics.

References:

1, Chinese Department of Jilin University. Appreciation Ceremony of Tang Poetry (X): Jilin University Press, 2009: 2 1 1.

Creation background

Bai Juyi's Night Snow was written in the winter of the 11th year of Yuanhe in Tang Xianzong (8 16). The poet was 45 years old at that time, and his official position was Jiangzhou Sima. At that time, Bai Juyi was banished to Jiangzhou for writing about the assassination of the Prime Minister. In the cold and silent night, the author felt the snow outside the window and felt more and more lonely, so he wrote this song "Snow at Night".

References:

1, Chinese Department of Jilin University. Appreciation Ceremony of Tang Poetry (X): Jilin University Press, 2009: 2 1 1.

Sentence solution

"I'm so scared that my pillow is cold and my window is bright."

It's cold, and people are frozen awake in their sleep. I was surprised to find that the quilt covered my body was a little cold. While I was wondering, I looked up and saw that the window was brightly reflected. Start with touch (cold) and then turn to vision (light). The word "cold" has been black for a long time. Generally speaking, during the first snow, the cold in the air is completely absorbed by water vapor and condensed into snowflakes, and the temperature will not drop sharply. When it snows heavily, it will only aggravate the cold. The word "Jing" is also written in snow. People didn't realize it at first because they woke up suddenly when the cold hit, because the snow fell silently. This is another feature of snow besides "cold", just like Tao Yuanming wrote a famous sentence about snow, saying that "there is no hope in the ears, but the eyes are clean" ("Writing with my brother in mid-December").

These two sentences are what the author feels and sees. Although they are all written in profile, they are closely related. Feeling "cold pillow" refers to people lying all the time at night, thus pointing out that it is "night snow" and "seeing the window bright", and further writing night snow from the visual point of view. Seeing the window bright at night shows that it is snowing heavily and deeply, and it is the strong reflection of snow that brings light to the dark night.

"I know it snows heavily at night, and I smell bamboo."

Only then did I know that there was a heavy snow at night, and it snowed heavily. From time to time, the sound of bamboo being crushed by snow came from the yard. These two sentences are written from the perspective of hearing (smell). It's upside down, the last sentence is the result, and the next sentence is the reason, which is ingenious and tortuous. The poet chose the detail of "folding bamboo" to set off the word "heavy". Judging from the sound of bamboo branches being crushed by snow, the snow is heavy and the snow is increasing. The poet's feelings are really meticulous. The Sound of Stacking Bamboo, Late at Night and Time Smell show the tranquility of the snowy night.

This sentence is better than silence, which makes the picture of the whole poem quiet, dynamic, fresh and elegant, and truly presents a quiet and silver world. It can be compared with Wang Wei's poem "Birds are startled at the moon, birds are singing in the spring stream" and "Birds are singing in the stream".

Brief introduction of the author

Bai Juyi (772-846), a native of Xinzheng, Henan Province, was born in Taiyuan, Lotte, Xiangshan, and drunk. He was a great realistic poet in the Tang Dynasty and one of the three great poets in the Tang Dynasty. Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen * * * advocated the new Yuefu movement, and together with Liu Yuxi, they called the world "Bai Yuan" and "Bai Liu". Bai Juyi's poems have a wide range of themes, diverse forms and simple and popular language, and are known as "the poet's magic" and "the king of poets". Official to Hanlin bachelor, Zuo Zanshan doctor. In 846 AD, Bai Juyi died in Luoyang and was buried in Xiangshan. Up to now, there are Bai's "Changqing Collection", and the representative works include Song of Eternal Sorrow, Charcoal Man, Pipa Travel and so on.