There are two interesting stories like this, which are quite inspiring and helpful for us in poetry and composition.

One article is contained in Ouyang Xiu's "Six Day Poetry Talk": Chen Congyi of the Northern Song Dynasty obtained an old collection of Du Fu's poems and found that a word was missing from the poem "Send Captain Cai to Captain": "The body is as light as a bird." So, many scribes and writers were invited to try to complete the word. Everyone tried their best to show off their talents. Some added the word "disease", some added the word "fall", and some added the words "qi", "xia" and "du". However, after everyone recited it, they always felt that the poetry was insufficient and tasteless. Later, I got a complete version, and compared the two, I found that "the body is light and a bird flies by." After reading it casually, I suddenly realized that the realm was completely different, and it was more in line with the image of Cai Duwei in the poem who traveled to the battlefield and was agile. Chen said with emotion: "Although there is only one word, you can't reach it!"

The two are included in the forty-eighth chapter of "A Dream of Red Mansions" by Xiang Ling. She and Lin Daiyu discussed Wang Wei's masterpiece "The Envoy to the Fortress" and made some interesting comments: "I read his "Fortress" and there is a couplet in it:

'The lonely smoke in the desert' Straight, the sun is round in the long river. 'How can the smoke be straight? The sun is naturally round. The word 'straight' seems unreasonable, and the word 'round' seems too vulgar. I thought about it after seeing this scene. I searched for two more words to replace these two, but I couldn't find another word."

These two interesting stories vividly tell us: among those famous works that are popular and have been passed down through the ages, there are often some.

One or two seemingly ordinary, seemingly unreasonable, seemingly vulgar words are actually unusual in the ordinary, reasonable in the unreasonable, elegant in the vulgar, and are the most vivid and appropriate , the most expressive and expressive, almost impossible for others to replace or change. This kind of word plays a key and pivotal role in a line or a poem. If it is present, the whole poem will be brilliant. If it is missing, the whole poem will be dimmed. It is what the ancients called "poetry eye", also called "sentence eye". ", just like what is said in Volume 6 of "Poet's Jade Chip": "A poem is made of one word, which is naturally unique and extraordinary, just like a magic pill that turns iron into gold!"

As we all know, poetry as a tool! One of the most concentrated, concise, and general literary styles, it must contain the richest, most profound, and most delicate "outer universe" in very simple and very limited lines of poetry

(the content of social life) and the "inner universe" (the world of human emotions). Therefore, poetry creation attaches great importance to the refinement of language

A brilliant poet is always good at selecting and using unique, unique and appropriate words among the dazzling text symbols to accurately describe the "outer universe"

and the "inner universe", truly The words should be less but the meaning is more, the words are simple but the meaning is profound, the words are close but the meaning is far away, the words are exhaustive but the meaning is endless, so that "the pen is filled with shock and rain, and the poem becomes weeping ghosts and gods". The poetic eye can play this artistic role of "a magic pill can turn iron into gold". The well-known "spring on the branches of red apricots is noisy"

(Song Qi's "Spring in the Jade House") does not say the customary "spring is strong", but uses the seemingly unreasonable word "noisy", instead The spring scene of bright sunshine, blooming apricot blossoms, and dancing bees and butterflies is so vividly depicted; Wang Anshi's "Spring Breeze Turns Green on the South Bank of the River" ("Mooring the Boat on Guazhou") is also a repetitive reflection, from arriving, passing, entering, It was full of characters and finally changed to green. It is this word "green" that is so uncanny that it not only shows the boundless greenness and exuberance of the spring scenery in the south of the Yangtze River, but also evokes the nostalgia of many travelers! In fact, as early as before the Tang and Song Dynasties, poets began to work hard and refine their words, but they just wrote naturally and without showing any emotion. For example, Xie Lingyun's "Climbing the Pond and Going Up the Tower" of the Southern Dynasty:

The first scene changes the wind, and the new yang changes the old yin. Spring grass grows in the pond, and willows in the garden become songbirds.

The first two sentences are mediocre, but the last two sentences are widely praised. According to Zhong Rong's "Poetry" quoted from "Xie's Family Records":

"Kangle (the word of Xie Lingyun)

Every pair of Huilian (Xie Huilian, Lingyun's younger brother) will get A good story.

Later, in the West Hall of Yongjia, I couldn't stop thinking about poetry.

I suddenly saw Huilian while sleeping, and he said, "Spring grass grows in the pond." Words have divine help, not my words. '" These two seemingly ordinary, simple poems, why are you so happy to be said to have received "divine help"? The key lies in the two poetic eyes of "birth" and "change", which reflect the poet's meticulous observation of the changes in the scenery in early spring, and sublimate this observation into a fresh and moving artistic conception, transforming the spring scenery of the courtyard from static beauty to dynamic beauty. , making every plant, every tree, every bird's song seem to understand human nature, and complement each other. Under the ordinary words are extraordinary imaginations and passions! Because the style of poetry in the Southern Dynasties was too elaborate and artificial, it is rare to see such masterpieces with simple, natural wording and full charm. Let's go back to Li Du, who represents the highest achievement of ancient poetry. Let's first look at a couplet from Du Fu's "Walking at Night":

The stars fall over the vast plains, and the moon surges across the river.

How majestic and majestic the night scene of the Sichuan Great Plains is depicted by just a few crosses! And this is due to the two characters "chui" and "yong": the word "chui" not only expresses the bright stars in the night sky and the distant stars hanging like hanging down, but also sets off

The "broadness" of the plains is endless, up and down.

The word "yong" is also wonderful, it makes people feel like they can see a big river rushing forward. The moon shadow in the river surges with the waves. How can other words describe this scene and momentum? If

were replaced by "star hanging" and "yuezhao", the meaning may be clear, but the charm will be completely lost and the taste will be the same.

There are many examples

They are all: "The spring scenery of the Jinjiang River comes to the sky and the earth, and the floating clouds of the jade barrier change the past and the present"

("Climbing the Tower"), the previous sentence uses "come" "Write space

Scenery, the waves of the Jinjiang River rush from the sky and the earth carrying the vigorous spring scenery; the next sentence uses "change" to write the reverie of time,

The floating clouds of Yulei Mountain change from ancient to modern times. Vicissitudes of life and changes in time sequence encompass the universe, time and space, and permeate with

the feeling of worrying about the country! "Once we go to Zitai Lianshuo Desert, only the green tombs are left to face the dusk" ("Ode to Ancient Relics"),

Paying tribute to Wang Zhaojun's former residence, his wonderful use of words can be seen in Zhu Han's "Interpretation of Du Shi" by the Qing Dynasty "There is a wonderful explanation: "The word 'lian' describes the scenery of the fortress, and the word 'xiang' expresses the heart of thinking about the Han Dynasty, and there is spirit in the writing." There is also "The mountains meet at the Fujiang River, and Qutang competes for one" ("Two Poems on the Yangtze River") "), the word "struggle" describes the turbulence, danger and majesty of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.

Let’s talk about Li Bai. The Poet Immortal is known as "hibiscus emerges from clear water, and the carvings are naturally removed". It seems that he can compose poems as he pleases and do it in one stroke, without paying much attention to carving out chapters and refining words. In fact, this is not the case, let's read "Climbing the Phoenix Terrace of Jinling":

Beyond the three mountains and the blue sky, two waters separate Bailuzhou.

The words "Luo" and "Fen" were definitely not blurted out without thinking, but they were carefully selected after climbing high and looking into the distance, staring for a long time and pondering over them.

Only the word "Luo" can express the looming and dim scenery of Qingliang, Zhanggong and Fenghuang mountains in Jinling City appropriately and arousing people's emotions; while Bailuzhou, located in the southwest of the city, , only the word "fen" can fully show its unique topography and landforms near the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River. The same scene is described,

"The wild bamboos are divided into the green mist" ("Interview with Dai Taoist Priest Bu Encounter"), and the use of the word "fen" highlights the strength and majesty of the mountain green bamboos. Even when describing

the battles at the frontier fortress, Li Bai also paid attention to the accuracy of his wording: "At dawn, the battle follows the golden drum, and at night, I sleep with the jade saddle." ("Fortress Song")

The Golden Drum It is the order to march, and the word "sui" can highlight the courage of the soldiers to move forward; and the word "hug" also shows the tense and intense battlefield atmosphere of the soldiers who are ready for action. It can be seen that not only Du Fu, but also Li Bai is also a poet who pursues "the words are not surprising and the death is endless"!

Paying attention to "one word for work" is a common artistic law and requirement at home and abroad. The Soviet and Russian poet Mayakovsky also had a similar famous saying: "The writing of poetry is like the mining of radium. One gram of radium requires a lifetime of labor. If you want to arrange a word properly, you need thousands of tons of language minerals." As a poet, even if you have keen observation and broad thoughts and feelings, if you lack it. The mine of language is not good at controlling words, and the words seem familiar and cliché. How can poems have the artistic power of being soul-stirring, subtle and timeless? Refinement of language and attention to poetic vision are indispensable basic skills for poets. So, what words of joy and sorrow and experience did the ancients have in this regard, which are worthy of our study and reference?

First of all, "eyes must use ringing characters and movable characters." That is to say, you are good at using some words that are beautiful in sound and color, sonorous, powerful, full of vitality and summarizing power. As Chinese characters with square pictograms, ringing characters and movable characters generally refer to the "predicate" in the poem - the predicate center word; and the predicate is often acted by verbs that express actions and modal changes. Therefore, when refining sentences, special attention should be paid to refining the verbs . The poetic vision of the famous lines quoted above, Xie Lingyun's "birth" and "change", Du Fu's "drop" and "emergence", Li Bai's "fall" and "fen", are mostly predicate verbs. What is even more obvious is

Du Fu's youthful work "Painting an Eagle": "When you hit an ordinary bird, the blood will be sprinkled on the grass." The combination of "strike" and "sprinkle" shows how strong and powerful it is. The ambition of a young poet. Here is another complete poem, the third of "Four Spring Poems in the South of the Yangtze River" by Chu Guangxi of the Tang Dynasty:

At sunset on the Yangtze River, I invite you to return to the ferry. The fallen flowers come and go in a light boat as they wish.

This is an imitation of an old Yuefu title, borrowing Yuefu folk singing techniques to express the longing and pursuit of love among young men and women in Jiangnan water towns. The first two sentences explain the time and place as a foreshadowing: at dusk, at the riverside ferry, a group of young men and women shouted to each other, and the atmosphere was warm and cheerful. The key point of the poem lies in the last two sentences, and the beauty lies in the last two sentences. "Luohua" metaphorically refers to the woman, and "Qingzhou" metaphorically refers to the man. The use of the verb "Zhu" not only expresses the scene of the "Qingzhou" traveling fast and the "Luohua" chasing, but it is also an expression of imagery, emotion and poetry. , the girl's inner emotions of being closely followed, never separated, shy, reserved and eager, are vividly and amazingly portrayed! Lu You, a Song Dynasty poet, also made good use of verbs as eyes: "Listen to the spring rain in the small building all night, and sell apricot flowers in the deep alley in the Ming Dynasty" ("The First Spring Rain in Lin'an"), "Lie down at night and listen to the wind and rain, and the iron horse glacier falls into my dreams" ("Ten") "Wind and Rain on January 4th"), the "listening" and "entering" are both "sounding" and "living", the former is elegant, the latter is tragic, both are unique and extraordinary.

Secondly, use the method of "transfer" skillfully, that is, the clever conversion of parts of speech.

In ancient Chinese, words are mostly one word, which can also be divided into nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. In poetry creation, the ancients often used adjectives as other parts of speech, creating a surprising and eye-catching "poetic eye" effect. The word "green" in Wang Anshi's "Spring Breeze Also Greens the South Bank of the River" is a typical example of converting an adjective into a verb. The beginning of Du Fu's famous poem "Wang Yue" is a successful example of converting adjectives into nouns:

How about Dai Zongfu? Qilu is still young.

The first sentence is a question, expressing the admiration, excitement and wonder of seeing Mount Tai for the first time; the "green" in the following sentence is not

to describe the color of Mount Tai, but to describe the color of Mount Tai. It directly refers to the color of the mountain. It means that Mount Tai has lush forests and endless green, stretching and covering the entire land of Qilu. Let's talk about another controversial masterpiece, Li Bai's "Qiupu Song" No. 14:

The fire in the furnace shines on the sky and the earth, and the red stars are scattered with purple smoke. On a bright moonlit night in Nanlang, songs move Hanchuan.

This was written by Li Bai during his visit to Guichi, Anhui. Guichi was an important production area of ??silver and copper in the Tang Dynasty, and this poem is also one of the rare ancient

works that directly praises smelting workers. The three words "photo", "chaos" and "moving" in the poem are all verbs as the beginning of the poem. They represent the lively scene of blazing fire, sparks flying and purple smoke steaming at the smelting site. Needless to say.

But the sentence "Nan Lang Mingyue Ye" needs to be discussed. Some people read the last three characters together as "bright moon night", which means that workers work overtime to smelt on moonlit nights, but the reading is bland and tasteless, and is inconsistent with the other three sentences. "Nanlang" originally refers to a person who blushes because of shyness. Here it describes a worker whose face is red by the fire. The word "明" has been transformed from an adjective into a verb, which means that the red faces of the workers are shining even more brightly against the moonlit night. Four sentences and four eyes can only be read

The rhythm is bright, the momentum is majestic, and it is extraordinary. Although it is rare to see nouns turned into verbs for poetic purposes, there are many examples.

For example, Du Fu's "A Journey to the Silkworm Valley": "The industrious martyrs burst into tears, and the men and women walked on silk silk and sang again!" The words "grain" and "silk" in the poem are both verbs, equivalent to the meaning of men farming and women weaving, which reflects the poet's wish to calm down the war and make the people of the world live and work in peace and contentment!

Thirdly, "virtual words are practical." That is to say, by cleverly using some imaginary words and adverbs that express tone but have no actual meaning,

You can achieve something that is ingenious from humbleness, elegant from vulgarity, novel and unique. artistic effect. "How is Dai Zongfu?"

Although the word "husband" is a classical Chinese word, it is absolutely indispensable and cannot be replaced! Let's look at Li Shangyin's poem "Wind and Rain" again:

The desolate sword chapter, I want to live in poverty. The yellow leaves are still windy and rainy, and the brothel has its own orchestra.

A side comment on "Three Hundred Tang Poems" by Hengtang Tuishi said: "still" and "zi" are the eyes of poetry. Yu Shouzhen's "Detailed Analysis of Three Hundred Tang Poems" also emphasizes: "One is sad and the other is happy, with the words 'still' and 'self' as the eyes of poetry." What is the beauty of these two words?

The word "still" contains the meaning of "change" and "concurrent". The yellow leaves have already withered, and if they are damaged by the rain, wouldn't it be even more shocking and sad?

It combines the ruthlessness of wind and rain

with the misfortune of life. The word "自" has the meaning of turning and passing by. On the one hand, it is a picture of the wealthy people in a brothel, feasting, feasting, and indulgence. On the other hand, it is the poet wandering in a foreign land, lonely and sad. The contrast between the front and back, the joy and sorrow of each other, writes all the stories about the society. The cold reality that those who suffer suffers from themselves and those who enjoy themselves enjoy themselves also euphemistically expresses the poet's feelings of decline and depression at the end of the world. This kind of famous sentence, which does not rely on real verbs but only empty adverbs to connect the context, can be seen in ancient poems: "At first sight

Interpret doubts and dreams, and mourn each other and ask about the year"

" "The sky is far away and there are no trees, the tide seems to be flat," and so on. They are all true, beautiful, and far-reaching. Of course, there are also

"real words used in vain", that is, nouns and verbs are used as adverbs, such as Du Fu's "In the Boat":

"The wind eats under the rivers and willows, and the rain lies down "Beside the post building" means eating in the wind and lying in the rain, which expresses the hardship of life. "Shi Hao Li":

"Why is it angry when an official shouts, and why is it painful when a woman cries." Using "angry" to describe "officials shouting" and "bitter" to describe "women crying" are both ingenious. Make a lasting impression on your readers.

The above three techniques for refining words and establishing poetic vision are only relatively common in ancient poetry, and they are inevitably flawed. As for the location of the poetic eye, it is also diverse and eclectic. Qiu Zhaoao from the Qing Dynasty quoted Zhao Xuan in the sixth note of the "Detailed Notes on Du Shi": "The five words of the Tang Dynasty are all composed of one character, which is called the eye of the sentence. For example, in "Chun Su Zuosheng": '

The star comes to thousands of households Moving, the moon is near the sky. The word "moving" is at the bottom of the sentence. Also in the poem "General He's Forest": "The branches are low and the branches are dark, and the orioles are in the dark." "Dark" refers to the third word of "eyes"

"The rain throws the golden mail, the moss lies on the green and the gun sinks"

"Throw" and "lying" are the same. The eye is in the second word. '

The remaining water in the Cangjiang River breaks down,

The broken mountains and rocks bloom'

The green bamboo shoots are broken by the wind,

p>

"Red blooms in rain and fat plums", both words have two words in one sentence,

"Left" is broken, "is broken" and "opens", "hangs" is broken and "blooms" are fat. 'Yes.

”

In fact, there is no distinction between words and symbols themselves. The key lies in the author’s ingenuity and skillful selection of words, which makes the words that are used to him become artistically appealing and penetrating. Therefore, the poet If you want to cultivate flowers of art that will never wither, you must have the tempering and creative spirit of "the words must be exhausted and pursue the new".

Here, we must also emphasize that the refinement of words must be accompanied by the refinement of meaning. Combination is the right way to create. If the content is poor, the thoughts are mediocre, and the emotions are shallow, and you only rely on your "poetic eye" to make up for it, but one word is strange and you hope that individual words will produce miracles, then you should abandon the root and ignore the last. , whimsical. Li Yu, a man of the Ming Dynasty, has a wonderful comment, which ends this article: "While crafting sentences and refining words is valuable for novelty, it must also be new and appropriate, and novel and accurate." Appropriate and correct are never more than one word. The sentence of desire is astonishing, first seek to convince the public with reason.

” ("A Peep at Ci")

(Author's unit: Jiangsu Education Press)