A
|秋词|Song of Autumn|
|刘禹锡|Liu Yuxi|
|自古逢秋悲寂寥,|Since olden days we feel in autumn sad and drear,|
|我言秋日胜春朝。|But I say spring cannot compete with autumn clear.|
|晴空一鹤排云上,|On a fine day a crane cleaves the clouds and soars high；|
|便引诗情到碧霄。|It leads the poet's lofty mind to azure sky.|
Poems from the Tang and Song Dynasties, operas from the Yuan Dynasty, and novels from the Ming and Qing Dynasties are very famous in China's history. Today, I'd like to recommend "Song of Autumn", one of the poems by Liu Yuxi, a famous poet and writer in the Mid-Tang Dynasty.
Just as shown in the first line of the poem, most ancient poets liked to describe autumn as a sad time, but in this poem the season appears different. In Liu's eyes, autumn, full of life and hope, is even better than the spring morning. He describes the bright scene of a crane riding the clouds and flying into the blue sky.
With his poems paying special attention to expressing personal feelings, as well as the daily life of common people, Liu wrote poems with beautiful music-like words. You may feel it in this poem. Though being translated thoughtfully by experienced Xu Yuanchong, the poem still reads not so beautifully as that in Chinese. I personally think that English is sometimes not so powerful as Chinese.
Here is another example. In Liu's essay "An Eulogium on a Humble Cell" (《陋室铭》), with less than 100 words, he shows a lively picture of his humble cell. However, it also shows how he was pleased with the poor and simple life. People may find it strange that one can feel happy living in such a humble cell. Learning from his famous sentence, "Be fragrant because of my virtues" (惟吾德馨), I think to be a respectable man is more important than to live in big houses, to wear beautiful clothes, to enjoy delicious food and even to gain knowledge.
(
D
) 1. Which dynasty is the poem "Song of Autumn" written in?
A. Song. B. Yuan. C. Ming. D. Tang.
(
C
) 2. How was autumn in Liu's eyes at that time?
A. He thought it was a sad time.
B. He thought spring was better than autumn.
C. He thought autumn was a hopeful season.
D. He thought autumn was rather cloudy.
(
A
) 3. Which is the feature(特点) of Liu Yuxi's works according to the passage?
A. Expressing personal feelings.
B. Picturing the blue sky and a crane.
C. Writing songs according to music.
D. Describing the daily life of young people.
(
C
) 4. How did Liu feel about living in a humble cell?
A. Strange. B. Unhappy. C. Satisfied. D. Lonely.
(
B
) 5. Influenced by Liu Yuxi, which does the writer think is the most important?
A. To live in a big house.
B. To be a respectable man.
C. To gain more knowledge.
D. To wear beautiful clothes.
