"Quetrains" The complete poem by Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty is:

"Quetrains"

Du Fu [Tang Dynasty]

Two orioles singing in the green Willow, a row of egrets ascending to the blue sky.

The window contains Qianqiu snow of Xiling, and the door is docked with a ship thousands of miles away from Dongwu.

Vernacular translation:

Two orioles sang among the green willows, and a row of egrets soared into the blue sky.

Sitting in front of the window, you can see the snow in Xiling that has not melted for thousands of years. In front of the door are anchored ships from Soochow, thousands of miles away.

Word and sentence annotations:

Xiling: Xiling Snow Mountain.

Qianqiu Snow: refers to the snow on Xiling Snow Mountain that has not melted for thousands of years.

Mooring: mooring.

Soochow: The territory of the Wu Kingdom in ancient times, in the Jiangsu Province area.

Wanli Ship: A ship that travels thousands of miles away.

Creative background:

In 755 AD, the "Anshi Rebellion" broke out, and Du Fu fled to Zizhou for a time. In 763 AD, the "Anshi Rebellion" ended. The next year after the end, Du Fu also returned to Chengdu thatched cottage. At that time, he was in a good mood. Faced with the vitality of this school, he couldn't help but write this short poem on the spot.

Appreciation of the work:

This "quatrain" was written by the poet when he lived in the Huanhuaxi Cottage in Chengdu. It describes the bright and beautiful spring scenery around the thatched cottage.

The poem begins with a vibrant natural beauty, creating a fresh and relaxing atmosphere. In the first two sentences, the poet describes this beautiful scenery in detail from different angles. Emerald is fresh green, the color of everything that comes to life in early spring when it comes to life. "Two" and "one" are opposite; one horizontally and one vertically, a very bright natural scenery unfolds. In this poem, the word "Ming" is the most expressive. It uses anthropomorphic techniques to describe the oriole more vividly. The birds come in pairs, forming a vibrant picture with a festive atmosphere. The orioles sit on the willows and sing, which is the vitality that moves in silence. The next sentence uses more obvious momentum to describe the vitality of nature. The egrets fly in this fresh sky. This is not only a free and easy way. Comfortable, and a kind of upward striving. Furthermore, the first sentence describes the orioles sitting on the willows and singing, and the second sentence writes the egrets flying into the sky. The space is much wider. From bottom to top, from near to far, the poet can see and feel everything. The whole environment is filled with vitality, which shows the vitality of early spring from another angle.

The third sentence is about looking out of the window at the snowy mountains of the West Mountains. The snow on the ridge does not melt all year round, so there is accumulation of "thousands of years of snow". The word "Han" indicates that the scene seems to be a picture embedded in the window frame.

The last sentence describes Du Fu's complicated mood at that time. When it is said that the ship comes from "Soochow", this sentence means that the war has been calmed down, transportation has been restored, and the poet feels emotional after seeing things and misses his hometown. The use of the word "Bo" has a profound meaning. Du Fu has been wandering for many years without a destination. Although he still has a little hope in his heart, that hope has been greatly reduced. The word "Bo" just describes the poet's complicated mood between hope and disappointment. "Wanli" implies the difficulty of achieving the goal, which is juxtaposed with "Qianqiu" in the third sentence. One is from the perspective of time, and the other is from the perspective of space, both describing the difficulty of achieving the goal. Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms has been hailed as the Lord of the Ming Dynasty by many scholars since ancient times. The author uses Soochow to refer to Sun Quan, hinting at Du Fu's hope for the current emperor. The combination of "Bo", "Wanli" and "Dongwu Ship" into one sentence is precisely to write the word "difficult".

The whole poem seems to be one sentence per scene, four independent pictures, but the poet's inner emotions make the content consistent. The fresh and light scenery expresses the poet's inner complex emotions, forming a unified artistic conception. At the beginning, the spring scenery of the thatched cottage was shown, and the poet's mood was peaceful. However, as his eyes wandered and the scenery changed, the appearance of the river boat touched his nostalgia. On the surface, it shows a lively scene, but within the cheerful and bright scene, it expresses the poet's sense of loss about the passage of time, loneliness and boredom, and also describes the poet's complex mood when there is a glimmer of hope again. Beyond that hope, there is more of the poet's sentimentality towards disappointment.

About the author:

Du Fu (712-770), courtesy name Zimei, called himself Shaoling Yelao, known as "Du Gongbu", "Du Shaoling", etc., Han nationality, Henan A native of Fugong County (now Gongyi City, Henan Province), Du Fu was a great realist poet in the Tang Dynasty. Du Fu was revered as the "Sage of Poetry" by the world, and his poems were called "the history of poetry". Du Fu and Li Bai are collectively known as "Li Du". In order to distinguish them from the other two poets Li Shangyin and Du Mu, known as "Little Li Du", Du Fu and Li Bai are also collectively known as "Big Li Du". He was concerned about the country and the people, and had a noble personality. About 1,400 of his poems have been preserved. His poetic skills are exquisite, and he is highly respected in Chinese classical poetry and has far-reaching influence. He lived in Chengdu from 759 to 766, and is commemorated by Du Fu's Thatched Cottage in later generations.