Stop and sit in the maple forest late, and the frost leaves are red in February flowers.

Travel in the mountains

Author Du Mu, Tang Dynasty,

Translation comparison

As far away as Hanshan, the stone path is oblique, and people are in Bai Yunsheng.

Stop and sit in the maple forest late, and the frost leaves are red in February flowers.

Translation annotation

The stone path is crooked and oblique from the top of the mountain, and there are several families where the white clouds grow. I stopped the carriage only because I like the night view of Fenglin. Frosted maple leaves are better than bright February flowers.

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Through the poet's emotional tendency, the poem depicts a warm and gorgeous autumn picture of a mountain forest with maple forest as the main scene.

To put it simply, the first three sentences are the object, the fourth sentence is the subject, and the first three sentences describe the background, which creates an atmosphere for the fourth sentence and plays a role in paving the way and setting off the background. "Stop and sit late in the maple forest" is different, and this tendency is very obvious and strong. Mountain roads, white clouds and others did not impress the poet, but the evening scenery of Fenglin surprised him. In order to stop and enjoy the scenery of this mountain forest, I don't care to continue driving. The scenery written in the first two sentences is already beautiful, but the poet loves the maple forest. Through the background, I have made a good preparation for describing the maple forest, so it comes naturally and leads to the fourth sentence, pointing out the reasons for loving the maple forest.

"Frosty leaves are redder than flowers in February" complements the third sentence, and a beautiful view of maple forest in late autumn is displayed in front of us. The poet was pleasantly surprised to find that under the sunset glow, the maple leaves were about to drip and the forest was dyed. It is really full of mountains and clouds, just like bright rosy clouds. More fiery than the spring flowers in February in Jiangnan! What is commendable is that the poet saw the vitality of autumn as spring through this piece of red, which made Lin Qiu present a warm and vibrant scene.

Unlike ordinary feudal literati, this poet did not sigh sadly when autumn came. He praised the beauty of autumn in nature, embodied the spirit of being bold and uplifting, and showed the poet's talent and insight with a wave of his pen. This is an autumn hymn.

The fourth sentence is the center of the whole poem, written by the poet with strong colors and coherent brushwork. Not only did the sparse scenery in the first two lines set off gorgeous autumn colors, but even the seemingly lyrical narrative of "stopping to sit in the maple grove late" actually played a role in setting off the scenery: the poet who stopped to watch, Tao Ran drunk, became a part of the scenery, and only with this scene did autumn colors become more charming. After a rewriting, it came to an abrupt end, and it seemed melodious and memorable.