Source: "Songs at Four O'clock in the Midnight: Autumn Songs", Southern and Northern Dynasties, author unknown.

Translation: Looking up at the sycamore tree, the tung flowers are particularly lovely. I hope that there will never be a day when frost and snow wither the tung blossoms, and that the phoenix trees can fall on this road for thousands of years.

"Wuzi" originally refers to the fruit of the sycamore tree. The homophonic pronunciation here is "my son", which is the man the woman loves. In folk songs, "flower" is often used to describe women, but "tung flower" is often used to describe men. "Jie" means falling, and "Luo" means staying.

The two sentences "May there be no frost and snow in the sky" mean that if there is no frost and snow in the sky, Wuzi can survive on this road for a thousand years. In other words, even if Wu Zi falls on this road after a thousand years, in this case, the man he loves will always come to visit him on this road, which means eternal love for a thousand years.

This poem is relatively simple. The first two sentences refer to looking up at the man. The man is indeed cute, but the tone has a sense of hopelessness and elusiveness. But "Wuzi" is going to fall. When it hits the ground, you can get it.

So "May the sky be free of frost and snow", the Wuzi will still fall here in a thousand years, and I will always have a chance to get it. There is wishful thinking and infatuation in it, and it is in line with the actual scene of strong sycamores falling in the wind in autumn, and it is written in a natural and profound way. It's just that the tone is obscure, and it's not easy to understand without referring to "Du Qu Ge".

Extended information:

Work appreciation:

The content of existing Southern Dynasties folk songs is relatively narrow, and most of them are love songs, such as "Midnight Song" and "Midnight Four O'clock" Song" is represented. The selection for this article is Part 3 of "Songs at Four O'clock in the Midnight". It is an autumn song. It uses fresh and simple language to truly reproduce the missing woman's longing for her husband who went to war. The style is sad and lingering.

The two sentences "The autumn wind enters the window, and the tents flutter" appear to actually describe the autumn wind on the surface, but they use the autumn wind to exaggerate an atmosphere. On a desolate autumn night, the lonely left-behind woman misses her. The rustling autumn wind will blow the "luo tent" in front of the window into the air, causing the cold and bright moon to pour the faint silver light all over the house. How can this not be changed? What about her sad and plaintive feelings?

The whole poem is like a movie, with pictures and "voice-over". The moon shines on thousands of households in Chang'an. The wind blows the anvil. Transformed into the desolate and cold moonscape outside Yumen Pass. Interlude: "When the Huru are defeated, a good man will stop his expedition."

What a meaningful poetic scene this is! It should be noted that this "interlude" that looks like a chorus of female voices is by no means superfluous. It is an integral part of the painting, both outside and inside the painting. It is soul-stirring and exciting. Therefore, it can be said that "Autumn Song" writes about longing and endless feelings from the front.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Songs at Four O'clock in the Midnight·Looking Up at the Indus