About poet: A Tang Dynasty poem that has a lot of depth is Lǐ Bái’s ‘Thoughts on a Calm Night’. Lǐ Bái (李白) lived from 701 AD to 762 AD and he was one of the greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty. More than 1,000 poems that were written by him still exist.
靜 夜 思
jìng yè sī
calm night thought
床 前 明 月 光
chuáng qián míng yuè guāng
bed before bright moon shine
疑 是 地 上 霜
yí shì dì shàng shuāng
image is ground on frost
舉 頭 望 明 月
jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè
raise head gaze bright moon
低 頭 思 故 鄉
dī tóu sī gù xiāng
lower head think old village
English translation:
Before my bed
there is bright moonlight
So that it seems
Like frost on the ground:
Lifting my head
I watch the bright moon,
Lowering my head
I dream that I'm home.
Poem analysis:
In the original Tang Dynasty Chinese, there is no usage of pronouns in this poem. This has the effect of conveying four successive thought imagines that concisely compose an entire feeling to go with the “calm night thought” that the poet is conveying through his artistic use of words. The thought that any reader will get, and the concurrent feelings that go with it, will of course depend on his personal experiences. But the effect is still dramatically succinct and effective. The original brocade of words is like this in English:
bed before, bright moon shines
image is, ground on frost
raise head, gaze bright moon
lower head, think old village
Each verse has two parts. The first part evokes a setting or emotional context, and the second part give an image to affect the reader’s feelings.
bed before / bright moon shine
image is / ground on frost
raise head / gaze bright moon
lower head / think old village
The words of the first line can bed divide into two parts which are ‘bed before’ and ‘bright moon shines’. The first two words answer the question ‘where?’ and set a background for the image which is the moon shining through a window and lighting up the area in front of the person’s bed. The details vary according to the individuals’ interpretations. They may lying or sitting in bed. They may see the moon through the window, or only its light, but the effect is to call forth a psychologically cozy image of moonlight in one’s bedroom
Then with the second line, Li Bai builds a composite image that interprets what the moonlight is. He leads the image into more emotion with the feelings that go with frost on the ground. The sentence starts off with the word ‘image’. You already have the image of the moonlight in your bedroom in your mind and he transmutes it by first calling forth your image with the word. Then he use the word ‘is’ to make an equivalent image so that the feelings that go with the thought of a cozy bedroom and moonlight flow into the feelings that you get from seeing frost on the ground. It is a synthesis of cozy and warm with sharp and cold.
Then with the third line, Li Bai reiterates the cozy and warm feeling. Gazing at the bright moon is usually a cozy and warm feeling, which is introduced here by the image of raising the head which has a positive connotation. This contrasts with the fourth verse which starts with a more negative feeling of lowering the head. And then he finally puts down the image of the town where one grew up. Perhaps evoking homesickness, but just as likely evoking the idea of a positive now with a less than positive before. So with only 20 words, Li Bai leads the reader through a part of life by contrasting the upbeat against the downbeat.