What is the meaning of a new song and a glass of wine?
Meaning: Flowers always wither and leave people helpless, and the familiar spring swallows return again.
Source: Song Dynasty Yan Shu's "Huanxisha·A new song with new lyrics and a glass of wine"
Original text:
A new song with new lyrics and a glass of wine, the weather is the same as last year's pavilion . When does the sun set?
There is no choice but the flowers fall away, and the familiar swallow returns. The fragrant path in the small garden wanders alone.
Translation:
Write a new song and drink a glass of wine, or the weather is the same as last year. When will the setting sun come back?
Flowers always wither and leave people helpless, but the familiar spring swallow returns again, wandering alone in the flower-scented path.
Notes:
Huanxisha: the name of Jiaofang song during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, later used as the tune. Sand, one is used as "yarn".
One song: one song. Because the words are sung with music, it is called "qu". New words, newly filled words, mean new songs. A glass of wine, a glass of wine.
Last year’s weather and old pavilions: It means that the weather and pavilions are the same as last year.
Last year’s weather: The same weather as last year on this day. Old pavilions, pavilions that have been visited or are familiar to. Old, old time.
Sunset: sunset. West: Setting towards the western horizon.
When will you come back? When will you come back?
No choice: no alternative.
Dejà vu: It seems like we have known each other before. Describes the reappearance of something seen. Later it was used as an idiom, which comes from Yan Shu's sentence.
The return of swallows: Swallows fly back from the south. The return of the swallows is a constant scene in spring, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Xiaoyuan Fragrant Path: a path with fragrant flowers and plants, or a path with fallen flowers spreading their fragrance. Because the path is full of fallen flowers and the fragrance overflows, the path is filled with fragrant clouds. Fragrant path, a path in the garden with a delicate fragrance.
Du: adverb, used before the predicate, meaning "alone".
Wandering: walking back and forth.
Appreciation:
This is the most popular chapter among Yan Shu's poems. Although this word contains the meaning of regretting the spring, it is actually an expression of emotion. The upper part of the poem combines the present and the past, overlays time and space, and focuses on thinking about the past; the lower part cleverly borrows the foreground, focusing on the present.
In the poem "A new song with a glass of wine, the weather last year is the same as the pavilion." It writes about the current situation of drinking and listening to songs. From the complex sentence patterns and the brisk and fluent tone, we can feel that when the poet faced the current situation, he initially had a relaxed and joyful feeling, with a carefree and leisurely attitude. It seemed that the protagonist was very obsessed with feasting. The joy of chanting. The author listened and drank. This situation triggered the recollection of a similar state he experienced "last year": it was the same late spring weather as "this year", and he faced the same pavilions and pavilions as before, and the same clear songs and wine. However, under the appearance that everything remains the same, it is clear that something has undergone irreversible changes. This is the long passing years and a series of personnel events related to it. This sentence contains a sense of nostalgia where the scenery remains the same but the people are completely different. This sense of nostalgia is mixed with a deep sadness for the present. In this way, even if the author is full of emotions, how can he not be slightly sad?
"When will the sun set in the west?" The sun sets in the west, which is the foreground before our eyes. But what the poet triggered by this was his lingering on beautiful scenery and love affairs, his confusion about the passage of time, and his faint hope for the recurrence of beautiful things. This is an instant feeling, but what is felt is actually not limited to the immediate situation, but extends to the entire life, which not only contains perceptual activities, but also contains some kind of philosophical contemplation. There is no way to stop the setting sun. We can only hope that it will rise again in the east. However, the passage of time and changes in personnel can never be repeated. Carefully studying the words "when will you return" seems to reflect a kind of careless mentality that is looking forward to returning, but knowing that it is difficult to return.
The lower part of the poem still uses a brushwork that blends emotions with the scenery to convey the foregoing meaning. "It is helpless that the flowers have fallen away, and it seems that the swallows have returned." It is a natural odd-even sentence. This sentence is skillfully crafted, fluent and implicit, with harmonious rhymes, profound meaning, and lingering sadness. It uses empty characters to form neat counterpoints and expresses the expressiveness of singing and sighing. The poet's ingenuity and deep feeling are as if they were made in heaven, which is also the reason why this poem is famous. But what is more interesting is the intention contained in this couplet. The withering of flowers, the passing of spring, and the passage of time are all irresistible natural laws. Although it is useless to linger on regrets, so I say "there is nothing you can do". This sentence is connected with "the sunset"; however, in this late spring atmosphere, I feel that It's not just the helpless decline and disappearance, but the gratifying reappearance. Isn't the swallow returning gracefully like an old acquaintance who nested here last year? This sentence should be "when will you return". Although flowers falling and swallows returning are also in the foreground, once they are associated with "helplessness" and "déjà vu", their connotations become very broad, their artistic conception is very profound, and they have the symbolic meaning of beautiful things. The intertwining of regret and relief contains a certain philosophy of life: all good things that are bound to disappear cannot be prevented from disappearing, but when they disappear, there are still good things reappearing, and life will not become nothingness because of their disappearance. It's just that this kind of reappearance is not the same as the intact reappearance of beautiful things. It is just "deja vu". What permeates the sentence is a kind of mixture of nostalgia and melancholy, which seems both overwhelming and profound. Only because of this, the author of this couplet used it not only for this word, but also for the poem "Compilation by the Prime Minister of Shizhang Temple".
"Wandering alone in the fragrant path of the small garden" means that he walked back and forth among the flowers alone, unable to calm down. The feeling of regretting spring here is better than the feeling of cherishing spring. It contains a touch of sadness and the mood is low.
The language of the whole word is round and fluent, popular and clear, clear and natural, with profound meaning, enlightening and thought-provoking. The deep thoughts about the universe and life in the words give people philosophical enlightenment and beautiful artistic enjoyment. The phenomena unintentionally described in the words often contain philosophical connotations, inspiring people to think about the universe and life issues from a higher level. The poem involves the profound and broad idea that time is eternal but life is limited, but it is very implicit.
About the author:
Yan Shu yàn shū (991-1055), also known as Tongshu, was a famous lyricist, poet, and essayist. He was a native of Linchuan City, Fuzhou Prefecture (now Jinxian, Jiangxi Province) in the Northern Song Dynasty. A native of Shahe, Wengang Town, County, located at the foot of Xiangnan Peak, his father was the first prime minister of Fuzhou Prefecture at that time. Yan Shu and his seventh son Yan Jidao (1037-1110) were known as "Dayan" and "Xiaoyan" in the poetry circles of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time.