Drive the orioles away, All their music from the trees. When she dreamed that she went to Liao-hsi Camp To join him there, they wakened her.
Original Poem:
《春怨》
打起黄莺儿，莫教枝上啼。
啼时惊妾梦，不得到辽西。
Interpretation:
This small poem reflects a sorrowful mood with the imagery of life: In the treetops of a courtyard, there are a few singing yellow warblers singing happily, but the door of the living room is opened and a young woman comes out from inside, angrily chasing away the singing yellow warblers and muttering to herself.
This is this poem to portray a picture of life, spring is so lovely, the yellow warbler singing and so pleasant to the ear, the young woman why do not care to enjoy the beauty of the moment, but to drive the yellow warbler away. It turns out that her husband has been garrisoned at the frontier for a long time, thousands of miles away, and his voice is nowhere to be found, so she is lonely and despondent, and can only hope to meet her relatives in her dreams. At this moment, perhaps she is walking on the road to the frontier in her dream world, looking forward to the meeting with her husband with joy, but the uninteresting yellow warbler has disturbed her beautiful dream at this time.
This poem captures an interesting detail of a young woman’s daily life and reflects a major social issue. According to history, Xi and Khitan minorities lived on the northeast border of the Tang Dynasty, and there were many wars between the Tang Dynasty and the Khitan. After Tianbao, the Khitan tribe became stronger. Due to the frequent border affairs, the soldiers who went to the garrison in western Liaoning were often not allowed to return home for a long time and were even buried in the deserted areas. Therefore, the people hoped that the ruler could pacify the border court and lead a stable and reunited life. In the fresh language of the folk song, the poem is a rich description of action details, which implicitly and profoundly expresses the mental suffering and grievances of the people at that time.
Jin Changxu(金昌绪) born and died in unknown years, he was a native of Yuhang (present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province) in the Tang Dynasty. There is no detailed record of his life, and only one of his poems has been handed down, “A Spring Sigh”.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
