Poetry is subtle and should not be too straightforward. But everything should be treated differently in two, the ancients wrote poems, often intended to be beyond words, rich in inexhaustible meaning, but if the love is extreme, it is better to say it directly.
Bai Juyi's works are wide in genre and rich in content, and at the same time, he is often eclectic and novel in his techniques, which makes readers feel refreshed. The following shares Bai Juyi's nostalgia for Yuan Zhen and recited a masterpiece, which was completed in one go and seemed to be self-contained.
Reading Lu Zimeng's old poems were gifted
Zhongtang • Bai Juyi
In the past, when I heard Yuan Jiu's poems, I hated to meet Lu Jun late.
Today, every gentleman opens the old volume, and there are many gifts in the volume.
It's hard to say that you have tears in your eyes, how can you know if there is anything sad?
Hearing that the tree on the tomb of Xianyang has smoked three zhang poplar branches.
Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhi have a close relationship, they both studied in Huayangguan, and they are the same subject, and they have been each other's bosom friends in their subsequent debasement careers, and they often comfort and encourage each other. Lu Zimeng was a former friend of Yuan Zhen, and he and Yuan Zhi also sang poetry and harmony from time to time.
In the first year of Tang Wuzong's Huichang, Bai Juyi, who was close to his prime, served as a guest of the prince and was in charge of Luoyang, the eastern capital. Lotte was once invited to Lu Zimeng's house as a guest, and accidentally browsed his old works, and suddenly remembered that Yuan Zhen, who had passed away ten years ago, and his heart was sad, so he wrote a poem to express the poet's incomparable thoughts about Yuan Zhen.
The opening chapter expresses his chest directly, "In the past, I heard Yuan Jiu's poetry, and I hated to meet Lu Jun late. Bai Juyi said to Lu Zimeng in the article, I learned very early that you and Yuan Zhi are close friends, and Yuan Zhi also likes to sing your poems. As friends of friends, we should have known each other for a long time, but we have never had the opportunity to meet. Now that I know who you are, I feel that it is too late to see you.
Although the author does not say how he misses Yuan Zhen, he transfers his deep affection for his deceased friend to Yuan Zhen's friend through the three words "late acquaintance", showing that Bai Juyi's deep friendship with his friend will not stop due to the disappearance of the years, but exists in another form, such a euphemistic expression can be described as wonderful.
The second couplet continues to express the author's sadness by continuing to express the author's sadness, "Today, every gentleman opens the old volume, and there are many gifts in the volume." Lotte said with emotion, today I read Lu Zimeng's old volume and Yuan Zhen's singing and harmony works, because of the poems in the poem volume, because of the many paid poems of Yuan Zhen, as his friend, Bai Juyi said that he felt particularly precious.
These two sentences are easy to narrate, affectionate, and although they are not opposed, they still seem to have a harmonious sound, and they make people feel the sincere friendship between Lotte and Motoji. Once Yuan Zhen received a letter from Bai Juyi, he replied like this, "Yuanxin had tears at the beginning, and his wife was shocked and asked what it was." Ordinary province used to be like this, it should be Jiangzhou Sima Shu. It can be seen that the relationship between the two is really extraordinary, no wonder Bai Juyi misses Yuan Zhen so much.
The third couplet writes the author's full of pathos to the extreme, "It's hard to say that you look at each other's tears, how can you know if there is anything sad?" Lotte read the manuscript of the poem in his hand and couldn't help but burst into tears. And Lu Zimeng was extremely sad when he heard Bai Juyi talking about Yuan Zhen, and he kept crying on the side.
Although the two old men were speechless, they both noticed that each other was crying, so they wiped away their tears, not wanting their emotions to affect each other. Bai Juyi thought of other things about Yuan Zhen at this moment, and Lu Zimeng didn't know these things at all, so he should be even more sad.
The ending is unbearable to read, "I heard that the tree on the Xianyang grave has smoked three zhang poplar branches." After his death, Yuan Zhi was buried in Hongduyuan, Fengxian Township, Xianyang, Bai Juyi was in the field at the time, and could not attend his friend's funeral in person, but wrote an epitaph for him.
Due to various reasons, Bai Juyi has not been able to go to Yuan Zhen's tomb to pay his respects. Later, when he heard that the poplar tree in front of Yuan Zhen's tomb had already branched out, he immediately felt ashamed.
Bai Juyi's poem is simple and unpretentious, the author uses pure white drawing techniques to describe, in one go, and full of true feelings, which is admirable, and the root makes people fully appreciate the deep affection between a pair of close friends.