Parting from My Children at Nanling for the Capital
- Poetry of Li Bai (Li Po)
I come to hillside home when wine is newly brewed,
And yellow chicken feed on grains which autumn's strewed.
I call my lad to boil the fowl and pour the wine,
My children tug me by the sleeve,their faces shine.
I sing away to show my joy when wine is drunk;
I dance to vie in splendor with the sun half sunk.
Though it is late to offer service to the crown,
Still I will spur my horse on my way to renown.
The silly wife despised the talent not yet blest,
I'll leave my family and journey to the west.
Looking up at the sky,I laugh aloud and go.
Am I a man to crawl amid the brambles low?
This is a ballad-style piece crafted by Li Bai, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty. Employing the narrative fu mode that recounts events directly, the poem also incorporates the rhetorical devices of bi (metaphor) and xing (affective image), weaving narration with commentary and combining direct depiction with indirect foiling. In its bold and unrestrained poetic tone, the work brims with the poet’s vigorous and unrestrained zeal for life as well as his impassioned and uplifting enterprising spirit, vividly capturing his eagerness to be employed by the court and his elated demeanor of being overwhelmed by imperial favor. The poem as a whole fully expresses the poet’s immense joy at the prospect of fulfilling his political aspirations and his bold, self-assured state of mind.
白酒新熟山中归，黄鸡啄黍秋正肥。
呼童烹鸡酌白酒，儿女嬉笑牵人衣。
高歌取醉欲自慰，起舞落日争光辉。
游说万乘苦不早，著鞭跨马涉远道。
会稽愚妇轻买臣，余亦辞家西入秦。
仰天大笑出门去，我辈岂是蓬蒿人。
- Why Chinese poems is so special?
- The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
- How to read a Chinese poem?
- Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.
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- Winter Night at My Lodging: To Imperial Archivist Chu
- Night in the Taoist Cosmos
- The Temple in Crimson Mist
- Inscription at Zhao Yin Temple: Elder Xuan’s Chamber
- Yiai Temple