Scattered and driven by the wind, this is no longer the case.
We are brothers, why should we be close by flesh and blood!
Have fun and have fun, fight and drink with your neighbors.
The prime years will never come again, and the morning will never come again.
Be encouraged in time, time waits for no one.
Tao Yuanming's "Miscellaneous Poems" contains twelve poems, and this is the first one. Mr. Wang Yao believes that the first eight poems are "consistent in rhetoric" and were composed in the same year, in the 10th year of Emperor Yixi of Jin'an (414), when Tao Yuanming was fifty years old, eight years after he resigned and returned to his fields. This is a group of miscellaneous poems that "do not follow the rules and speak out whenever they encounter things" (note by Li Shan in "Selected Works"). It can be said that lamenting the impermanence of life and lamenting the brevity of life are the keynote of this group of "Miscellaneous Poems".
"Life has no roots, floating like dust on the road." No roots: describing wandering. Mo: road. These two sentences mean that life in the world is like a tree without roots, a flower without a pedicle, or like dust blowing in the wind on the road.
"Scattered and turned by the wind, this is the permanent body." Permanent body: the permanent body. Buddhism believes that the permanent body has eternal legal nature, which is different from the impermanent life and death of the parents. These two sentences mean that due to the unpredictable fate, life is wandering, various encounters and changes are constantly changing people, and everyone is no longer the original self. Although these four lines of poetry are ordinary, they imply a strange rise. They compare life to a rootless tree and a peduncle flower, which is one metaphor, and then to the dust on the road, which is another metaphor. The comparison between comparisons is like a metaphor. The image in the poem describes the poet's profound life experience and reveals the most profound sadness.
“We are brothers after landing, so why should we be close by flesh and blood?” Landing: refers to birth. These two sentences mean that since everyone is no longer their original self, why should they care about the relationship between flesh and blood and the love of blood. Everyone who comes into this world should become brothers.
“Have fun and have fun, fight and drink with your neighbors.” Huan: joy. These two sentences mean that when you encounter something happy, you should have fun, and if there is wine, you should get together to drink. Rich experience often makes people have a deeper understanding of the tragedy of life. Growing older often makes it more difficult for people to find joy and excitement in life. This was especially true for Tao Yuanming who was in a dark period of politics. But after all, he did not completely give up his beautiful ideal of life. In the spirit of fraternity that "we are all brothers within the four seas", he turned to nature outside the officialdom to seek beauty, to seek spiritual joy in village life, and to communicate with the villagers. We have forged a deep friendship. This kind of joy is plain, neutral, clear and simple.
“The prime of life never comes again, and it’s hard to wake up again in one day.” It’s hard to wake up again in one day: It means that there is no second morning. These two sentences mean that the prime of life will not come a second time, and there is no second morning in a day. "Be encouraged in time, time waits for no one." These two sentences mean that you should encourage yourself while you are in your prime, and time will not wait for you.